Zmax Does it work?
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 8,721
Likes: 108
From: Canada
Zmax Does it work?
Just saw the guys on Trucks do a promo for it basically saying it would do wonders to remove carbon buildup - pour in the oil, gas, power steering etc. I remember yrs ago there being a thread on these products and the general consensus being that it was snake oil. Any comments welcome as to it's effectiveness.
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 15,892
Likes: 42
And that's key with almost all of these snake oils, they promise to fix things that aren't broken, or to keep bad things from happening- things that wouldn't have happened anyway. I used to sell bags of petrified voodoo chicken bones. They helped ensure that a car's engine would start each and every time the owner turned the key. In warm weather, it was sufficient to keep the bag in the glove box. In cold weather, it was best to take the bag and shake it in front of the engine while chanting 'O, whatta foo lieyam'.
This process worked 99.9999% of the time. If not, I simply informed the user to shake the bones harder or chant louder. Never had a second complaint.
Last edited by Mike Ward; Oct 9, 2011 at 10:52 AM.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 805
Likes: 5
From: Naperville Illinois
100% guaranteed to separate you from your money.
Speedway Motorsports (maker of Zmax) was sued for false advertising by the Federal Trade Commission in 2003. They put together a settlement where Speedway would offer a couple million dollars as compensation to people who purchased the product during the period of false advertising. In exchange for this, Speedway was allowed to continue to make certain specific claims--which, according to the original FTC action, were unsupported by research and testing--and the FTC would thereafter deem "no compliance action was warranted" against Speedway if they made those claims. I don't have the information in front of me but they used to have it on the Zmax website.
If it were my money, I'd rather have Mike's chicken bones.
Speedway Motorsports (maker of Zmax) was sued for false advertising by the Federal Trade Commission in 2003. They put together a settlement where Speedway would offer a couple million dollars as compensation to people who purchased the product during the period of false advertising. In exchange for this, Speedway was allowed to continue to make certain specific claims--which, according to the original FTC action, were unsupported by research and testing--and the FTC would thereafter deem "no compliance action was warranted" against Speedway if they made those claims. I don't have the information in front of me but they used to have it on the Zmax website.
If it were my money, I'd rather have Mike's chicken bones.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 8,721
Likes: 108
From: Canada
Did anyone else see this wknds episode. I wonder how much Zmax had to pay for that product placement - essentially they said to buy 1 quart to fix all.
I posted this as I am starting to see more mentions of these snake oil additives making it into various forums. Btw I've never used these additives in any of my vehicles.
I posted this as I am starting to see more mentions of these snake oil additives making it into various forums. Btw I've never used these additives in any of my vehicles.
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Race Director
Joined: Jul 2001
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Best keep it this way.
Ask yourself this question- if a given product offers such wonderful proprieties when added to the oil, fuel, or simply bolted onto an engine why don't the oil companies or car OEMs use them in the first place? Much cheaper than the millions of dollars they send now to squeeze HP or economy out of an engine.............
Ask yourself this question- if a given product offers such wonderful proprieties when added to the oil, fuel, or simply bolted onto an engine why don't the oil companies or car OEMs use them in the first place? Much cheaper than the millions of dollars they send now to squeeze HP or economy out of an engine.............
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 228
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From: Evansville WI
Any solvent poured into the gas, oil, or power steering will disolve gunk build up. Lacquer thinner or acetone will do the same thing. Even my favorite Seafoam is little more than mineral spirits and alcohol. The thing is that modern automotive fluids already have all kinds of detergents in them already, so adding more is usually a moot point.
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