No problem telling the difference between these and the China and India made counterfeits being sold by Raybestos among others. Nice laser welded seams and machined hose barbs. A step up from the old HDPE housings.
Plastic version was maybe twice the weight of this metal one. It feels like there is no magnet inside whatsoever. OK I'm gonna pick up the plastic version to see if this is true!!
It says MADE IN AUSTRALIA on the NAPA website!!!
I ordered it for pickup over the computer - drove to the store. Opened the box and it was the FAKE Raybestos made in China filter!!!! So I returned it right then and there.
Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2019
Magnefine has re-engineered their filters with a metal canister and hose barbs.
1. The bypass mechanism is entirely different. The design, where it seals, the length of spring, the way it opens, how the fluid bypass flows... entirely different.
2. The position of the magnet is different. The magnet itself is about the same size and shape as the Magnefine. The magnet holder is the same design and shape as the Magnefine. But the Made in China Raybestos puts the magnet against the internal filter end cap, whereas the Magnefine floats the magnet between the filter housing end cap and the internal filter end cap. In this manner, the Magnefine build exposes the entire surface area of both sides of the magnet to the fluid flowing through and around it, while the Raybestos build only exposes one side of the magnet to the flow of fluid. Honestly, it looks as if the knock off people dutifully copied the parts, but installed them backwards, not knowing any better.
3. The end nipples (the parts that are deformed in the Raybestos in the op) differ in shape and barb profile. They might even differ in durometer, but I didn't test for that when I had the filters apart in pieces side by side. But the Raybestos definitely isn't a rebranded Magnefine.
Raybestos was once a baseball and apple pie American brand known for brake pads, that went bankrupt due to their manufacturing facility in CT becoming an environmental liability that could not be feasibly remediated (lagoons of lead, asbestos, ground water contamination, etc). The brand name itself was such a fixture during the automobile's coming of age, that it retained a value that outlasted the original business. This name value has been bought and sold several times since, Affinia, Sun Capital Partners, Monomoy Capital Partners, Brake Parts Inc, Torque Capital Group, and most recently, First Brands Group.
In other words, Raybestos hasn't been truly Raybestos since 1989, and lost all shadows of it's former self by 1998. For the last 22 years, Raybestos has been a brand name bandied about by various investment groups... no longer a consistent and trusted domestic manufacturer rooted in the American soil that it contaminated. I've purchased two Raybestos branded Made in China (for Balkamp) inline automatic transmission filters from Napa Auto Parts, which are deceptively depicted on the Napa Auto Parts website as "Magnefine" filters. They visually look similar, but they are not the same.
I only began using Magnefine filters due to Ford's former requirements, which Ford later retracted. Ford subsequently offered an inline filter made by Filtran, in an all metal crimped housing. The genuine Magnefine filters that I had were from Ford, and had Ford part number labels adhered over the Magnefine branding embossed into the filter housing lid. I mention that my Magnefine filters were from Ford so that their vintage is clear... the collection of Magnefine filters I had predated Ford's discontinuance of Magnefine filters, so my comparison of Magnefine against Raybestos is qualified only for the original design of Magnefine. I do not know how the reportedly all new Magnefine filters are internally constructed.
Filtran Transmission Magnetic Inline Filter (3/8") Sealed Power M010SB (99336)
https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/5a/cd/1e/c5449c20baac04/US4689144.pdf
That's the original Magnefine Patent!!
The steel casing "magnefine" is actually US-made Filtran that Magnefine sold their brandname to apparently. I dug this out of the forums - people actually called up Magnefine to find out what happened. "The ribbed ones are made by Boss Products and the smooth ones are made by Filtran. It says so right on the [Magnefine] website." That was posted in 2017. and this, "I've been in contact with Magnefine's US based sales group. They stopped production and are moving their production to the States and will begin making their updated filter case out of metal with a new design due to cheap Chinese knockoffs. In the meantime, they are sourcing the Filtran filter to their customers until the production source is back up and running." Meaning the steel Magnefine filter is actually Filtran!! And I guess the Filtran paper filter is not as good? "That filter was a design they bought rights from TransProtect. Except the new patent owners won't use the fine filtering filter that the patent states because the fine filter cost too much. The one we see here filters like crap compared to the original patented filter." (2020 comment) and then from the Magnefine original patent! " a magnet support member positioned between said mechanical filtration means and said magnet, said support member spacing said magnet from said mechanical filtration means and positioning said magnet to define a gap between said perimeter of said magnet and a side wall of said casing, and wherein fluid from said entry port flows in a first direction substantially parallel to the outer face of said magnet facing said entry port and thereafter in a second direction through said gap and substantially parallel to said inner surface of said casing. 6. The disposable filter of claim 5, wherein said magnet support member comprises four legs, each said leg being angularly spaced about 90 from adjacent said legs, said legs each having a foot extending across an end of said leg at an angle of about 90', said feet positioning said magnet from said inner surface of said casing to form said gap." So the Filtran "Magnefine" filter does NOT have that "magnet support member" hahaha
It contains a 35-micron filter (nominal) but also a magnet. With approximately 51 percent of contaminant particles being ferrous, it will catch nearly all of those, regardless of size.
I noticed a little smoother shifting on the Fit and the LeSabre after putting Magnefines on both of them. 6 months later they're shifting the same as when the filters were put on.
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