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Gearbox oil change & magnetic drain plug size question.

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 4:49 pm
by Tronic
Hello All,

Its Gearbox oil change time again.

The Castrol Syntrax now only appears to come in 1 litre containers, probably because its gone up so much in price since my last change that no one wants to shell out for the 4 litre containers, even though you need this much in the 3SGTE gearbox. So now its liquid gold at $27 a litre !!!

Anyway my main question is that I'm going to fit a magnetic drain plug if I can find one in the gearbox this time.

Can anyone let me know where they have bought one in NZ and also what the thread size is please. I'm pretty sure its M18x1.5mm (measured the ID of an old gearbox crush washer but I'm guessing the pitch) but I want to be sure and don't want to pull it to find out until I change the oil.

Cheers,

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:28 pm
by Roman
Isnt the drain plug magnetic already?

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:16 pm
by veilside2
yeah should be especially in the gearbox.

Drain Plug in the gearbox.

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 10:13 pm
by Tronic
No it is not magnetic, it�s just a plain bolt with an aluminum crush washer. Besides these Neodium magnets that they use now probably were not around in 1990.

Definitely not magnetic. There seems to be a push for these on the sump of the engine, however IMO this is largely a waste of time, that�s what you have an oil filter for. One the other hand there is nothing in the gearbox to stop any partials going round and round (apart from when you do an oil change) and everything in the gearbox is mainly ferrous metals (therefore attracted to magnets) so its perfect for the application.

I remember looking at my gearbox oil that I drained out last time and although it obviously looks as clean as the day you put it in, if you have a look at it under bright sunlight it looks like it has a million stars in it with the reflection of all the very tiny metal partials in it.

I got under the car tonight and checked my gear linkage bushes for wear and removed the top filler plug, which I'm sure is the same as the bottom drain plug. The thread is M18 x 1.5mm.

What was interesting is I have no wear in my shifter bushes at all. I can only attribute this to the lighter shifting action the Synthetic oil provides.

Cannot find a magnetic plug on any NZ website but there are a few on the US websites. Looks like this thread is used on engine sump plugs for some motorcycles. Am going to order a few from the USA if they get round to answering my e-mail request.

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 11:10 pm
by Roman
Aaahhh okay interesting, my Altezza gearbox plug is definitely magnetic...

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 11:33 pm
by yiug412
true i have never seen magnetic gear box plug, but i think you can send an e-mail to broomfish or driven performance and ask for a sump plug with the same size. hope that helps

Louis

Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 8:48 am
by Benckj
That's a shame about the Castrol oil, increased price and smaller containers. On the lighter side for an oil change you probably only need 3 litres as a large quantity remains trapped inside the box. This will work out less expensive ($81) compared to what the 4 litre pack use to cost ($94).

I disagree with the magnatic sump plug idea. Any small metal particles will remain trapped in the oil under suspension and will not be attracted to the magnet. After all this is what the oil is designed to do and the magnet is to small to break the surface tension oil bond. Large particles may be attracted but at this stage it is beyond help.

There is also the possiblity that introducing a steel plug to a cast alloy housing will strip the threads which is a common problem. Change the oil and use the same plugs with possibly a new crush washer.

Jim

Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 10:44 am
by Benckj
I didn't want to enter into the oil debate as we all have our prefference. Seeing as he is using Castrol Syntrax already it may be best to run with the same. I hate playing Chemist mixing products which have already been engineered for a purpose.

Jim

Magnetic Gearbox Drain plug.

Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 4:03 pm
by Tronic
Well after much research and the complete lack of availability I have made my own.

I will also list them on MR2 parts for sale.

It uses a genuine standard Toyota drain plug (made of steel by the way) and a nickel plated Neodymium rare earth magnet. It doesn't include the aluminium crush washer (these are reusable unless some ape did up your last one). I'm selling them for $45 each plus $5 courier to anywhere in New Zealand. If anyone is interested in one then e-mail me direct. No stupid questions thanks.

FYI there is also a Mobil fully sythetic gearbox oil out also that I have not seen before. $130 for 4 litres so pretty expensive. I'm not going to get into an argument as to what oil to use but a magnetic plug will enable you to run fewer oil changes regardless of the oil type. Castrol Syntrax works for me and you can buy it from Repco for $27 a litre and I'm not keen on mixing it with anything else now I have fully flushed the shit that Toyota put in at the factory.

I find that you need about 3.5 litres as the E153 Turbo gearbox holds 4.2litres and clearly some of it doesn't drain out.

Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 4:41 pm
by Benckj
I'd be intrested in how well the magnet works. Presumebly you would have to drain the oil to check to see what cuttings collected?

Jim

Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 5:15 pm
by Tronic
What I thought would be a good idea is quickly change the drain plugs over without changing the oil and run the car for a week on the magnetic plug.

This will give me some accellerated test results without having to run the car for 50,000km to see how much metal it pulls out of the oil.