Has anyone put it to the test and how well dos it work

 

Zmax is an ordinary mineral oil. It does not meet any of the manufacturers claims, in fact its formulation is inferior to the standard add packs in most oils.

There are no oil additives you need to or should add to your oil. Most oils meet very stringent requirements, and no do it yourself snake oil product is going to exceed the standards that oil companies are currently meeting.

These products prey on people who are not educated about them, luring you in with incredible claims of increased engine life, better fuel economy, and better performance. If any of these claims were true, then the auto manufactures would use and recommend such products, the oil companies would include them in their add packs, and the government might even require them. Simple fact, Zmax is nothing more than a cheap mineral oil with some dye in it to make it look magical. Pouring it into your engine is not much different than spraying some PB blaster in your oil. Its just an oil of a lightweight viscosity. The same is true of most of the miracle additives. Some are worse than Zmax. Slick 50 uses Teflon in their product, and it does not do as claimed to protect the engine and increase its life, it actually plugs the oil passages and causes engine damage.

Best thing you can do for your engine, take any good oil than meets the specification found in your owners manual, and replace it and the filter at the recommended service intervals. No snake oil, no special additives, just use the specified oil. For whats its worth, the Motorcraft oil is one of the best bargains I have found in the parts store, its a great price for a semi-synthetic blend, especially when you buy the gallon jugs.

 

Yep thats why i thought id ask, because of course the guy from autozone said it was super dooper good stuff for ur motor. So i said alright well, ill look into it. Because u know i didnt wana say "Your probly full of ****" lol

 

Remember that scene from Josey Wales when the Carpetbagger is trying to sell his snake oil to Josey and says the stuff is good for just about anything? Josey spits tobacco juice on the Carpetbaggers fine white dress coat and says, "How's it at getting stains out?"

Kevin

 

Here is a link to a list of questionable products that the Govt has successfully taken to court & the product you ask about is one of them.
Wheellegal

Poke around their site, it has a nice long life oil study with oil analisis to back it up, on several popular synthetic engine oils that you might find interesting. It also has a section on engine mods.

 

hahah thats funny,, and alright ill check it out

 

Folks,

To add to pawpaw's link, I found this when doing some research -

Fuel saving gadgets - a professional engineer's view

Kevin

 

hmmm interesting

 

Dutter - the other nested links are interesting to. I checked out the Skeptic's Dictionary at Skepdic.com. Fun reading there to.

Kevin

 

hmmm yeah that to, what about that engine restore stuff

 

Can't say. Lot's to read but my eyes are failing. I'll look into this more in the...later morning. Happy reading Dutter! Kevin

 

hhah thanks,, Yeah it seems like the lucas is the best stuff to get. Its still not the super tune up in a bottle but it seems to work the best. And from my personal experience iv always had the most results with lucas, like with there octane booster and EFI cleaner. Iv also tried there tranny stuff and it did help alittle it was worth the $10.

 

I use a product called Aces IV from BND Automotive LLC in my '69 Thunderbird. I use it mainly to keep the valves lubed.

 

I know nothing about Zmax, but I'm gonna disagree on a couple of things.
Yes oil companies do make the oil to meet a spec and probably not much more than that. The base stock isn't what cost money it's the additives. The auto makers don't want your vehicle to last too long, they want it to last long enough so you'll be satisfied with the mileage you got and hopefully buy another one of their products.

I wouldn't necessarily follow a manufacturers recommened intervals. My 93 Plymouth says to change the oil every 7500 miles and change the oil filter every other oil change, Really? Most GM cars aren't due for a transmission fluid change until 100k, no wonder the transmission guy at my shop stays busy, and is backed up with work.
GM has oil life monitoring, which on certain cars have had for many years that recently came back to bite them on the ***. They found out the hard way you can't go 11k miles on regular oil without stretching timing chains.

Me I change my oil every 5k and I use wal-mart oil with a can of BG MOA just because i saw a live demo by our BG guy and there has been a few times when there were ticking noises in engines we would pour in a can and the noise would majically disappear. Basically it is the same additives in oil just more of them.

 

I've used both Lucas and Rislone products in my '77 and haven't had any issues with either one. I think Rislone is basically a base oil with detergents added in - works well for cleaning and de-sludging the engine. I don't get too crazy with Lucas products as a couple of their oil additives seem questionable to me... I also add ZDDP to the oil in the '77 even though the cleveland heads have had hardened valve seats pressed-in - it's mostly for the benefit of the camshaft...

I don't add these products to the Ranger as I'm not sure what effect they'll have on the fuel injectors (referring to the Lucas gas additive) and whatnot. I figure Ford engineered these vehicles to handle the newer oil and gas formulations better than the old iron did...