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You know I use Lucas Oil Products and I have no proof that they work. They are huge sponsors of NHRA drag racing, so I'm going with them. I have never seen anything published good or bad about Z-Max. My son saw their infomercial and is convinced it's good stuff...
I like to give things a chance before I blatantly say one way or the other. That is why it bugs me when people like madmax just jump to conclusions when they have no way of backing up their statement.
Now, if madmax has had experience with Z-max in the past and it proved harmful to his engine, I can understand why he wrote what he wrote. However, based on the last thing he said ("Just another snake oil product to remove money from your wallet."), I highly doubt he has ever tried this product.
I have always found their infomercials kind of weird, from what i can gather it does look like another one of those ploys to get your money, I tend to stay away from things like that. regardless of what they sponsor. I highly doubt your engine will last long enough for you to really find out, if there is even a way to find out. The only engine oil additive i trust is that engine system cleaner from Gunk. One flush of that through your system and it literally destroys buildup.
I like to give things a chance before I blatantly say one way or the other. That is why it bugs me when people like madmax just jump to conclusions when they have no way of backing up their statement.
Now, if madmax has had experience with Z-max in the past and it proved harmful to his engine, I can understand why he wrote what he wrote. However, based on the last thing he said ("Just another snake oil product to remove money from your wallet."), I highly doubt he has ever tried this product.
Well we cant go out and test every product. Im sure if it really did even half the things it claimed that everyone would be talking about it. So basically we have to jump to conclusions about things, how else can you decide whether or not to buy something without having prior experience with it? And in order to get experience with something you have to buy it. Just google around about Z-Max, some people who have used it say it does nothing, some say it is harmful, some say it helps. With such mixed bag impressions of it, I say steer clear, its just snake oil.
Its not an additive per say, you put it in your old oil and run the engine for 5 mins, than change the oil. I had my valve covers off cause my car had no oil pressure for a while, the system was completly siezed and i literally watched it clear up. ill go dig up a link for you.
Wow I need proof that an additive makes magic power? There hasnt been one that has worked yet, I dont need to blow my money on another as an experiment. You want to? Go ahead. That site reads just like every other product from the past, STP, Slick 50, Prolong, etc etc. Where did all those go?
just use atf it will clean the insides of a motor also
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saber
I have always found their infomercials kind of weird, from what i can gather it does look like another one of those ploys to get your money, I tend to stay away from things like that. regardless of what they sponsor. I highly doubt your engine will last long enough for you to really find out, if there is even a way to find out. The only engine oil additive i trust is that engine system cleaner from Gunk. One flush of that through your system and it literally destroys buildup.
Use it its well worth the 30 dollers i used it right when i got my car, before i got my car it was sitting for about a year just getting started once or twice a month, and i put that in it when i started driving it alot and it ran alot better like before i used it black smoke shot out when you got on it and about a 3 days later it had more power and such it actully worked
In February/March 1997, an independent laboratory performed two CRC L38 tests of zMax for Speedway and Oil Chem. In those tests, motor oil treated with zMax produced more than twice as much bearing corrosion as motor oil alone.
yes, i have the same question, that FTC article is rather harsh? if it does that that how are they still in business?
For the same reason we still have horrible public officials...nobody does research. People see the advertisements and buy the product, unlike the savvy folks here that actually question the "results". When I was young and less cynical, I used Slick 50 stuff and, although I never got burned by doing so, now I realize what a waste of money it was. It's an experience learning curve...
Save you snake oil money and invest in some really good oil and change it like it needs to be changed. I'm not one to change on 3000 miles on my daily driver, I go to 5000. But if for some reason I have engine trouble, say the water pump goes out and the temp gets up 235 or so I change the oil.
On my Camaro that gets hammered often I change the oil way more often.
I believe the key to engine life is a good quailty clean oil.
I also believe the only time to use additives is when its worn out and will not hold good oil psi and you don't have the $$$$ to rebuild, then Lucas is great but anything that will thicken up the oil will help.
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I would not bother with this garbage. Like stated before use good name brand synthetic fluids and you will be A OK. Last I head Z Maz had a class action law suit against them.
my mom has bought just about every product you can see on tv. she had bought that z-max stuff for her jeep and a little later she brought the jeep to the mechanic for routine maintenance and when they went to drain the oil hardly anything came out. they said her engine probibly should not have even been running the way it was. but it was running fine. she credits that to z-max, it could also just be that it was the bullet proof 4.0Ltr jeep engine.
I am have been around cars trucks all my life! Was once too a beleiver that all additives was snake oil! However when i was driving truck for a living! I used lucas for the first time in my 1994 freightliner that at the time was pretty "wore" She was smoking pretty bad and not overly powerful! The lucas worked to clean her up and she ran smoother and the smoke dissapeared! I was now hooked on it!
In 2003 i bought a brand new Peterbilt weith another CAT engine (best ever by the way) I never ran the Lucas for the first year (because bein old school was worried about warranty issue's! After the year i ran it again got over 1.5 miles per gallon better in fuel mileage after two jugs of Lucas! 1.5 mil to gallon in a big truck is huge!
To my point about z max i know run that in my trucks! the stuff works i have no affiliation with them or do i know any one who does im just a guy tryin to save a buck! They run cleaner more power and better fuel mileage for example we have a 96 gmc yukon with 200,000 km we put z max in it went from getting 550km to a tank to over 700! That has been my expereince!
Wow I need proof that an additive makes magic power? There hasnt been one that has worked yet, I dont need to blow my money on another as an experiment. You want to? Go ahead. That site reads just like every other product from the past, STP, Slick 50, Prolong, etc etc. Where did all those go?
Because your right That crap didn't work! it's 2009 now GRAMPS!
Dont buy this crap. I work for parts store, it always the same crap that list everything it does to your engine to help it, its just to make money. I personally just tryed the stuff about a year ago just because i wanted to experiment with my silverado, i personally didnt see a different between the lucas and the zmax. zmax is just a gargage product of a company trying to make a successful business like slick 50 and lucas does, the stuff does nothing. Ive tryed it, experienced it, its not worth the 35 bucks. Just do your regular oil maintaince. If anything you need to buy the additives buy the lucas, i personally believe it actually helps out more than the zmax does, and lucas is a hell of a lot cheaper. Sure my Trans Am smokes on start ups at it sits for a while, but its just coolant burning out, idk normally its a habit with tpi cars to blow white smoke out sometimes after ageing, but she still runs like a bat outta hell though.
yes, i have the same question, that FTC article is rather harsh? if it does that that how are they still in business?
If you read through it you see that they were under restriction of advertising for 5 years. So that let up what, 3 or 4 years ago. Also said they had to refund the customers who bought it.
If it works why don't the OE manufacturers use it in every vehicle? Improved gas mileage would help them reach cafe fuel requirements, and it could save them big bucks on warranty fixes. I wouldn't buy Zmax or an additive, changing your fuel filter, air filter, plug wires, plus, clean your fuel injectors, and change hoses all would be better investments. Just upgrade/replace one thing every oil change, instead of buying some iffy product. Go with the proven stuff first, and if that doesn't help... use zma...rebuild your engine.
ok . z-max is said to soak in to the metal last time i had a chemistry class they called that acid.
engine flush think about it the clearance in your motor is like .00xxx for the oil to get in there and the carbon and sludge is way thicker and bigger then that so the engine flush could have easily just moved it and blocked an oil passage making it 10x likely to spin a bearing or something.
and there's alot of stuff that been around for years and people don't know if they work STP the stuff in the little red bottle they been around since in 1960 does that work i dont know but they pack the selves with it.
now if it work for you then hey fine it's ur money but to just see it on tv without doing resreach isnt the way to go.
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ok . z-max is said to soak in to the metal last time i had a chemistry class they called that acid.
You must have had chemistry in the Dark Ages then, because I've never heard that definition for acid. Acid is reactive because it likes to give up electrons. Conversely, bases are reactive because they like to absorb electrons. I'm not 100% sure of this, but my dad is a chemist for a living and he'd be able to tell me if I'm wrong.
Engine blocks are not 100% solid metal. Down on the microscopic level, you can actually see the space between the grain structure of the material and the individual bonds that join the grain structure together. Think down on the nanometer (ie 10^-9 meters) level. If the molecules that make up z-MAX are smaller than the space between the grain structure, then yes, it will soak into the metal.
And believe me, quite a few lubricants out there have molecules that are measured on the pico-meter (ie 10^-12 meters) level in size.
ok . z-max is said to soak in to the metal last time i had a chemistry class they called that acid.
engine flush think about it the clearance in your motor is like .00xxx for the oil to get in there and the carbon and sludge is way thicker and bigger then that so the engine flush could have easily just moved it and blocked an oil passage making it 10x likely to spin a bearing or something.
and there's alot of stuff that been around for years and people don't know if they work STP the stuff in the little red bottle they been around since in 1960 does that work i dont know but they pack the selves with it.
now if it work for you then hey fine it's ur money but to just see it on tv without doing resreach isnt the way to go.
Those anti Lucas tests dont show how the oil reacts in an actual engine. Like most of the home testing done on oil filters it proves nothing.
Sure my Trans Am smokes on start ups at it sits for a while, but its just coolant burning out, idk normally its a habit with tpi cars to blow white smoke out sometimes after ageing, but she still runs like a bat outta hell though.
that's not coolant unless you have a headgasket blown. its your valve guide seals. over time they get hard and don't seal the oil right and after it sits away the oil leaks by them into the clys. next startup it burns it. its light blue smoke. the seals are cheap, the work is harder but its worth it not to puff blue every time it starts after sitting for a while.
luas is good stuff for gears, like rear ends and some manual trannys, as long as you don't have the fiber blocking rings, it might eat the glue off them like gear oil will. but I've never researched that. but unless you have a low rpm motor, I wouldn't really use it in there. unless as said above you have low oil pressure and are trying to put off a rebuild.
ok ok not an acid then my bad i jump the gun on that one. but i did a test at work today i put zmax on one of the 1inch beams we got sitting around the shop waited 5 hours and nothing but on the tv commercials it took what 30 mins and it was halfway in the metal i mean thats a litte there fun how fast theres worked
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thats what im thinkin. placebo effect. go and throw some in your dads pickup without him knowing and see if he mentions a difference in power or gas mileage
thats what im thinkin. placebo effect. go and throw some in your dads pickup without him knowing and see if he mentions a difference in power or gas mileage
z-MAX is nothing more than a micro-lubricant. It'll help reduce parts wear, but thats about it. You won't have anymore HP with z-MAX than with 89 vs 91 octane.
I have seen the snake oil " life extenders " since the mid 80's. They always promise the same things, sell well for a couple of years then fade away. A better investment would be to use synthetic oil.
Anyone remember Split Fire spark plugs?
I have used a top end engine cleaner that really worked. GM sells it. If you use it follow the instruction and make sure your in a wide open area, the less living things around the better. I was shocked at how much carbon came out the tail pipes. Always wondered what the cats looked like after using it on two vehicles.
I had a valve tick in my Silverado and used Z max after I saw a thing about it on Powerblock tv. I drove my truck from Wyoming to Missouri and the valve tick went away. I'm no chemist or engineer but as far as I can tell it cleaned up some junk in my engine.
I had a valve tick in my Silverado and used Z max after I saw a thing about it on Powerblock tv. I drove my truck from Wyoming to Missouri and the valve tick went away. I'm no chemist or engineer but as far as I can tell it cleaned up some junk in my engine.
powerblock tv is one long infomercial
sometimes a click will come and go, i used zmax in a satty and seen no diff at all.... that same car the trans was "clunkin" into 1st, i used a thing of lucas trans fix to get me by.......totaly fixed the problem with plenty of miles added, then sold it
i do think the zmax comercial is BS, because the use 100% pure zmax on the parts to show it soaking in, and cleaning the deposits, well your zmax aint going to be 100% pure zmax when you put it in 17gallons of gas and 5 qts of oil
but who knows, i do know the original part of the post is old
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