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| Opinions Wanted on Transmission Filter [message #362671] |
Sat, 06 March 2021 21:31  |
TR 1
Messages: 348
Registered: August 2015
Location: DFW
Karma: -7
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Senior Member |
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Hey guys,
So I'm in the middle of servicing my transmission while also redoing the plumbing on my transmission cooler lines, (moving from 5/16" lines to 3/8 lines, and adding back in the factory cooler since I recently put in a new radiator) and I was toying with the idea of adding one of these Magnafine inline filters to the transmission line before it runs through the cooler:
https://www.amazon.com/Magnefine-Magnetic-Inline-Transmission-Steering/dp/B0787KWZPS
Considering doing so mainly because after servicing my transmission and looking at the stock filter, it seemed a little small compared with a standard TH400 filter. Also figured it would not be a bad idea to keep crud out of the coolers by filtering it while it's hot, pre-cooler.
So what say you?
1. Good idea. The more filtration the better.
2. Bad idea... Too much restriction
3. Overkill... The stock filter is just fine
I also already went ahead and stuck a pan magnet on the bottom of the transmission pan while I was in there... Our G8 with the 6L80 has 280K miles on the original transmission, and I figure if the General stuck a pan magnet in there from the factory, it was 5 bucks or whatever well spent to add one to the motorhome.
Mark S. '73 Painted Desert,
Manny 1 Ton Front End,
Howell Injection,
Leigh Harrison 4bag and Rear Brakes,
Fort Worth, TX
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| Re: [GMCnet] Opinions Wanted on Transmission Filter [message #362675 is a reply to message #362671] |
Sun, 07 March 2021 05:45  |
Ken Henderson
Messages: 8726
Registered: March 2004
Location: Americus, GA
Karma: 9
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Senior Member |
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My WAG is that it won't hurt anything -- nor help significantly. Seems to
me most of the debris in an automatic transmission is non-magnetic anyway.
Ken H.
On Sat, Mar 6, 2021 at 10:32 PM Mark Sawyer via Gmclist <
gmclist@list.gmcnet.org> wrote:
> Hey guys,
>
> So I'm in the middle of servicing my transmission while also redoing the
> plumbing on my transmission cooler lines, (moving from 5/16" lines to 3/8
> lines, and adding back in the factory cooler since I recently put in a new
> radiator) and I was toying with the idea of adding one of these Magnafine
> inline filters to the transmission line before it runs through the cooler:
>
>
> https://www.amazon.com/Magnefine-Magnetic-Inline-Transmission-Steering/dp/B0787KWZPS
>
> Considering doing so mainly because after servicing my transmission and
> looking at the stock filter, it seemed a little small compared with a
> standard
> TH400 filter. Also figured it would not be a bad idea to keep crud out of
> the coolers by filtering it while it's hot, pre-cooler.
>
> So what say you?
>
> 1. Good idea. The more filtration the better.
> 2. Bad idea... Too much restriction
> 3. Overkill... The stock filter is just fine
>
> I also already went ahead and stuck a pan magnet on the bottom of the
> transmission pan while I was in there... Our G8 with the 6L80 has 280K
> miles on
> the original transmission, and I figure if the General stuck a pan magnet
> in there from the factory, it was 5 bucks or whatever well spent to add one
> to the motorhome.
> --
> Mark S. '73 Painted Desert,
> Manny 1 Ton Front End,
> Howell Injection,
> Leigh Harrison 4bag and Rear Brakes,
> Fort Worth, TX
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
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Ken Henderson
Americus, GA
www.gmcwipersetc.com
Large Wiring Diagrams
76 X-Birchaven
76 X-Palm Beach
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| Re: Opinions Wanted on Transmission Filter [message #362677 is a reply to message #362671] |
Sun, 07 March 2021 09:16 |
TR 1
Messages: 348
Registered: August 2015
Location: DFW
Karma: -7
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Senior Member |
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I always thought that black stuff in the bottom of the pan was magnetic... Always assumed it was clutch material. Our G8 is the first automatic car I've owned, and I know when I service it, the pan mag usually has a healthy coating of that black stuff...
Mark S. '73 Painted Desert,
Manny 1 Ton Front End,
Howell Injection,
Leigh Harrison 4bag and Rear Brakes,
Fort Worth, TX
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| Re: Opinions Wanted on Transmission Filter [message #362702 is a reply to message #362671] |
Sun, 07 March 2021 19:50 |
JohnL455
Messages: 4447
Registered: October 2006
Location: Woodstock, IL
Karma: 12
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Senior Member |
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Since installing that means rubber hoses, I say no. Fail points.
The stuff that settles out in the pan is just that, out of circulation.
I would just change the fluid slightly more often and be ahead of the game.
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II
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| Re: Opinions Wanted on Transmission Filter [message #362760 is a reply to message #362671] |
Wed, 10 March 2021 09:53 |
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I used a spin on K&N with my Turbo mustang. With that and a cooler got an a4ld to hold more that 100 hp than designed to. If you race or climb grades a cooler bar and plate schould also be added
73 Canyon Lands, (a.k.a. The Yellow Submarine) West Los Angeles CA
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| Re: Opinions Wanted on Transmission Filter [message #366071 is a reply to message #362702] |
Wed, 11 August 2021 12:06 |
TR 1
Messages: 348
Registered: August 2015
Location: DFW
Karma: -7
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Senior Member |
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JohnL455 wrote on Sun, 07 March 2021 19:50Since installing that means rubber hoses, I say no. Fail points.
The stuff that settles out in the pan is just that, out of circulation.
I would just change the fluid slightly more often and be ahead of the game.
JohnL,
Thanks very much for this piece of advice... I'm not a fan of rubber lines either, so I ended up going with this version of the magnefine filter that has AN fittings:
https://www.magnefinefilters.com/Magnefine-Performance-Edition-Transmission-Power-Steering-Filter-P038M.htm
Found one on Ebay for around a hundred bucks, so not too bad for what it is... The filter design is very nice and the housing is heavily built billet aluminum. There is a bypass in the center of the filter immediatly below the inlet. The bypass is also in the center of a donut shaped magnet. Under normal operation with the bypass closed, the fluid is forced to the outside of the filter. The donut magnet is about an eight inch smaller than the outside housing, so the fluid flows though that gap, bringing it near the magnet, and from there flowing outside to inside through the filter material. I very much like the idea of the additional "scrubbing" of the fluid to remove contaminents this filter provides in addition to the stock filter... And being able to check on and change the filter element without dropping the pan, and easily seeing what is collected is a nice bonus. And there's always the bypass (which still passes the fluid near the magnet via the donut hole in the center) in the event of catastrophic failure plugging the filter to keep fluid flowing, not to mention the stock filter is still in the pan.
I guess I did not mention this above, but a lot of the reason I did this is with the AC Delco trans filter no longer available, the only stock filters I've been able to find don't appear to be the most well made... I tore into one of the available stock trans filters, and the corregated paper filter element was not confidence inspiring... The metal edges were also rough, and I even pulled a splinter of metal off the inlet where it appeared to have been cut with a dull cutter... The glue used to seal the filter housing also was uneven on the one I pulled apart, and you could see some spots without glue where fluid could bypass the filter.
The magenfine filter OTOH has been tested and used by Ford and I think Nissan as required on transmission replacements in order to get the factory warranty, (To filter out contaminants left from a previous trans failure) and there are published tests (from Ford I believe) you can see where multiple filters were tested for filtration, resistance to flow, and reliable triggering of the bypass. These tests were done on the normal hose barb filter, not the fancy billet filter I went with, but both supposedly use the same filter design and construction. Point being if you are not adverse to some short lengths of rubber line in your system, the inline filter is available for around 20-30 bucks.
But whatever way you go, any additional filtration at all I think is a good idea assuming it does not harm fluid flow. Small price to pay compared to the cost of a transmission rebuild, or a breakdown on the road with possibility of the associated towing expense and ruined vacation...
Mark S. '73 Painted Desert,
Manny 1 Ton Front End,
Howell Injection,
Leigh Harrison 4bag and Rear Brakes,
Fort Worth, TX
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| Re: Opinions Wanted on Transmission Filter [message #366082 is a reply to message #366078] |
Thu, 12 August 2021 11:30 |
TR 1
Messages: 348
Registered: August 2015
Location: DFW
Karma: -7
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Senior Member |
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Larry wrote on Wed, 11 August 2021 22:46When you get a chance, read this article. Go to :
https://www.gmcmi.com
Upper right corner click on "READ HERE Magazines and newsletters"
Scroll down to "The Summer 2020 issue 152 of GMC Vintage RVing"
Lower Right of that issue, hit "Fullscreen"
Using right arrow, turn pages to P.29 for article on "Upgrading Transmission Cooler Lines"
Lower right of screen is "Exit" button.
HTH
Thanks Larry... Yes, I had seen this article and I did upsize the transmission cooler lines at the same time... I also plumbed in an auxiliary cooler while I was at it, as I tow a Wrangler on some trips.... (Actually, the PO had bypassed the factory cooler and I only had a rather large air to oil cooler, but I replaced my radiator a few years back and had planned on re-incorporating the factory cooler to work with the existing aux cooler)
I had initially planned to use hard line... But I found it difficult to work with under the coach, and was not happy with the bends and layout I was getting... If I was doing a full resto with the front frame section removed, I think I would have been more successful...
I ended up going with -6 AN line... Interestingly, I ran into a similar problem to the one mentioned with the adapter fittings in that GMCMI newsletter article. Suprisingly (at least to me) standard AN fittings actually neck down quite a bit... I did not put a caliper on them, but especially the 90s looked to be the same ID as a 5/16' line or even a little smaller... I tried several brands of AN fittings as well. Some were better than others, (Russell I think had the largest ID of the fittings I looked it) but none were satisfactory, as with the cost and effort of upgrading, you would want a full size 3/8" line all the way through.
What I ended up going with was the Aeroquip PTFE hose and fitting system. The fittings for this hose appeared to be the same ID as the ID on 3/8 hard line... Here's a photo showing 2 Aeroquip -6AN fittings... Standard AN fitting on the right, and the PTFE fitting on the left... (For some reason it uploaded to the photo site distorted, but you can still see the difference between the standard and AN inside diamater) Again, both are the same -6 (3/8ths) size:
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/mechanical/p68314-ptfe-fitting-vs-standard-an.html
Was very pleased with the PTFE fittings vs standard AN... They were very easy to work with (Assembling fittings was much easier than standard AN line) and the fittings are actually a coated steel, which keeps the cost down somewhat and they are very durable. Also, the PTFE line has a long lifespan, and, as PTFE is low friction, it is even supposed to promote flow to some extent as the trans fluid is naturally repelled by the PTFE. Aeroquip even has the necessary fittings to go straight from the -6 hose to the 5/8-18 inverted flare fittings on the trans cooler.
As suggested by some other owners on this site, I ended up routing the outlet hose over to the passenger side, ran the hot fluid through the filter, from there to the radiator cooler, then out of the radiator cooler to the aux cooler (on the drivers side) then out of the aux cooler, down the drivers side to the return on the transmission. Used about 20 feet of hose, all in... Without the aux cooler you would probably have less line and of course fewer fittings.
This is the line and fitting system I went with:
https://www.jegs.com/p/Aeroquip/Aeroquip-PTFE-Racing-Hoses/3629195/10002/-1#
Think I had around $200 all in for the fittings and hose evenly split between the 2... Without an aux cooler and the aux filter, you'd save on a few fittings, and be at $150-175 I would guess....
Mark S. '73 Painted Desert,
Manny 1 Ton Front End,
Howell Injection,
Leigh Harrison 4bag and Rear Brakes,
Fort Worth, TX
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