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I had the same question. Trusting Carroll's endorsement, I added Z-Max with my last oil change about a month ago. Also a bottle of the gas treatment in the tank.
I haven't noticed any real difference, but I figure it can only help, not hurt. My '01 has only 38,000 miles, but is is 6 years old, and, if the stuff works, it should extend the life of the internal parts.
Doesnt work. The only additive that works is Slick 50.
Used slick 50 in a new truck I bought a few years ago,the needle in temp gauge would never get into the normal range until It got about 40.000 miles on it, at 50.000 I put in another round of the stuff and the needle never got back into the normal range again,Thats how slick 50 works no friction,no excess heat bulid up. good stuff.
Can Anyone spell " SNAKE OIL". The engineers who test this stuff are paid by the manufacturer,even Carroll Shelby gets some too. Stay with GM recommendations.
It is not snake oil, the FTC sued the makers and they had to settle out of court with them. The claims that they were making were mostly true. Here is something from their website
zMAX was developed in 1947 by Joe Lencki as Speedway Cocktail. Sold to the racing industry and car dealerships since it development, it has been marketed as zMAX since1989. AVBLEND, the zMAX formula for aviation, is FAA approved for all piston driven aircraft and has been available since 1980.
If the FAA lets people put it in airplanes it should work for us.
I saw them also on 'Trucks' or 'TruckU' i forget the exact name (on SpeedTV) with a pretty detailed demo on how/why this stuff works, although i really wasn't convinced of the stuff you would put in the oil, i might try the gas additive to clean injector's and intake valves( i do on ocassion use Techron).
It's just putting additive in the oil or trans which they have also is something im not convinced of, i believe that Mobil 1 does the job along with 6,000 mile changes and yearly oil analysis from Blackstone Labs. JMO.
Last edited by Rob 99; Nov 25, 2007 at 04:36 PM.
Reason: changed text
Do not add any kind of additive to your oil. I work for Chevron and have spoken to some experts in the field that do lubrication. All of them say the samething. When adding additives to oil, this causes the protectants in the oil to attack the oil additive instead of protecting your engine being that the oil does not know what the additive is. Also most oils will have a brake down when the chemicals in the oil join with the chemicals in the additive causing a breakdown of the molecules.
My dad puts that stuff in all his cars, RV, boat, lawn mower even. Nothing bad has happen as a result of using it. Not sure if it does any good either.
I had a 95 Civic my dad had put Zmax in, that was stolen and got some damage. The thermostat had got broken, which I didn't realize until I was driving it home from the tow yard it was held at. After I got off the freeway, about 2 miles away from my house, the temp gauge was pegged! I was so close to home I just bit the bullet and drove it home. It was hot!! I had it towed to my mechanic, and he said the head should have warped or some sort of damage, but there was none.
read the article, only thing they got wrong is about ZINC.....the reason you need it is for older vehicles with flat tappet cams and this is mandatory for proper wear...this means not rollar type cams. Diseals also need it...the reason it has been reduced in newer oils is due to EMI SSIONS not because it is not needed.
One of the main ingrediants in ZMax is Ether.....can't figure out how that reduces friction....The only additive I trust is Lucas pure synthetic. But with M1 doing such a good job that we see LS based cars & trks w/200-300,000 miles on them still going strong & when we pull some apart w/super high milage and see almost no cylender wear....why add anything?
One of the main ingrediants in ZMax is Ether.....can't figure out how that reduces friction....The only additive I trust is Lucas pure synthetic. But with M1 doing such a good job that we see LS based cars & trks w/200-300,000 miles on them still going strong & when we pull some apart w/super high milage and see almost no cylender wear....why add anything?
Yeah, but just think of all the people you would put out of work if nobody bought any of this snake oil !!