There are a rare few items that I'll see in various automotive aftermarket magazines that have piqued my interest. At at under $30 apiece, I'm tempted to give them a try in the spirit of "what's there to lose?" What are the opinions of the masses on the following:

Magnetic Fuel Savers - this magnet that clamps around your fuel line is supposed to help break apart clumped fuel molecules, increasing surface area and fuel combustability. $22 - $30

Oil Filter Magnet - This array of four magnets straps to your oil filter, presumably causing more engine-bits suspended in the oil to stay in the filter. Sounds great in theory, but could it only cause the filter to clog up more in the areas around the magnets? And what's the risk of the guy at Jiffy-Lube not noticing it and trashing it when he swaps out my filter? $15

Oil Heat Sink - this item wraps around your oil filter, and helps dissipate oil heat while it's in the filter. Again, would it really work, and will it accidentally dissapear next oil change? $18

It would be nice if these last two items could be used simultaneously, but I don't think you have both installed at the same time. In that event, would it be better to use the collar in the summer, and the magnets in the winter?

All input is appreciated.

 

i think the oil magnet and heat sink will work but i seriously doubt that the gas magnet will make a difference unless you get your gas by siphoning rusty wrecks at the junk yard.

 

more info on the magnestrap...seems like they sell lots of rinkydink stuff

magnestrap

 

I use the Magnet strap on my oil filter. It may do nothing, but for $15, catching metal particles is dirt cheap insurance. Of course, if the metal particles are big enough to be caught by the magnet, they should be caught by the filter medium...but it falls into the "Cant hurt" catagory.

Ditto with my magnetic tipped drain plug. I always manage to find SOME bit of metal on th end of it when I change my oil. I might not help...but it sure doesn't hurt.

I don't think the "oil filter cooler" will do anything. There is just not enough surface area to it, and not enough air flow over the oil filter to make a difference. There are specific oil filter relocation kits that incorporate an oil cooler. I would reccomend them over this, and only if you are having oil heat problems.

The Fuel Magnets. I had a set of them, they were given to me by my Dad. I keep track of my mileage religiously. There was no change in fuel usage, knock tendancy of the motor, etc..etc..etc.. In other words. They did NOTHING. I left them on for about 3-4 months then discarded them.

 

That's pretty much the kind of advice I was trawling for!

I was a little skeptical of the fuel magnets...it kinda fell into my mental category of "if it's such a great improvement, why don't any cars come with this stock?"

The oil filter magnets seemed the most reasonable to me. I think the kicker is that you can catch stuff with the magnet that is smaller than what the filter medium could catch. A metal nubbin will pass through a hole unaffected much easier than it will pass through a magnetic field.

My concerns over the cool collar are very similar to the issues that come up with CPU heatsinks. If they've got full contact and conductivity, they're great and they do their job as advertised. But if they aren't coming in contact, and aren't conducting the heat away from the source, then they're (at best) having no effect.

Thanks for your inputs guys! This was what I needed. Anyone else out there know of more good chintzy crap???

 

Yellow stickers make you go faster...

 

WOW! I can't BELIEVE that I've existed all this time in my feeble, meaningless life WITHOUT these FABULOUS products!!!!!!

Move over, Ron Popeil! Quantum Market, THAT'S AMAZING!

...insert sex-appeal glint of light on teeth...

rolleyes.gif

 

Or me?