88IROCs

Up again all night, can't sleep, flippin through the channels. Get to the "Speed Channel" and it's another one of those miracle additive/snake oil infomercials, this one for something called "zMax".

Well, after about two minutes of listening to hype piled so high you'd need a backhoe to clear the room, I decided to go to the web and see what a search on YAHOO turned-up. Well lo and behold, not only was this stuff not going to help your engine, it was actually proven to harm it.

Here's what the FTC thought of zMax and why they've filed suit against the company that makes this crap. ---> Click Here

Lest you think these charlatans are the exception and some additives do what their makers claim, here's a quote from the FTC article in the link above: "The FTC previously halted allegedly deceptive advertising by the marketers of Dura Lube, Motor Up, Prolong, Valvoline, Slick 50, and STP, other major brands of engine treatment products." Geez, that about covers all of them, eh?

Still someone must be buying this junk, otherwise why would new 'miracle cures' keep popping-up. And why do cable channels do their viewers such a disservice(especially one devoted to perfomance motorsports)? Guess old P.T. Barnum was right in more ways than one, where this garbage is concerned.

iroc22

We sell all that stuff at our auto parts store. People have actually bought the Zmax, and it's like $50 Canadian! One of my fellow workers said he knew a guy that put it in his brand new Mustang and it screwed the engine up so bad, that it had to be warrantied by Ford.

BORLAZ06

I used Zmax like a year ago. I didnt notice too much of a difference and from hearing the bad news you guys just posted; I'm glad nothing has happened to my motor.

John Millican

iTrader: (1)

The only one I'll back (because it worked) is Lucas Oils Stabilizer. It's usually a demo on the parts counter with some gears you can play with (crank the **** and watch the lube "cling').

I tried it when I had a tapping lifter in me 2.8 and after a couple weeks it was GONE. No tap, just silence.

$8 a quart. Only used one quart.

iroc22

Did you guys also notice in the article that the FTC also stopped other brands of oil additives in the past from marketing false improvements in the engines? I doubt if any of those additives even do anything.

age

guess what I saw on TV last night? "Take your car to the MAX, with ZMax (now with Linkite technology)

88IROCs

I think what bothers me the most is not that they are making false claims(hardly a unique trait in the automotive aftermarket), but that they are allowed to continue selling a product that is proven to cause accelerated engine wear and damage. Obviously the FTC or the JD should step in and protect the consumer by shutting these crooks down. Then obtain their customer records and launch a class-action on behalf of all the folks who were defrauded by these charlatans. But then again, sending a clear message on what constitutes acceptable business practices does not seem to be a priority of either the FTC or the JD.

Fast3rdGen

the only one i'll use is Prolong. i've seen it work personally and some of the people i know who build engines for mud dragsters swear by it. also if it helps top fuel motors go a whole event without replacing bearings instead of two or three passes it's good by me.

age

Doesn't Tom Keliher use Prolong, too?

Brian'sIROC

I think I've read that top fuel dragsters run nothing but Prolong in their crankcase.

Zuckuss88GTA

I am going to agree with John Lucas oil stabilzer and all of lucas products work. I hgave seen them in action. I have seen lucas tranny fluid bring a dead tranny to life. Rightnow i have lucas oil stabilizer in my dodge shadow (used to burn some oil) but no smokeless nad it even sounds better. That stuff is thick as $h*t but it works.

Chrome

probably just straight old fashioned 80w

1MEAN92RS

I'd have to agree... Lucas Oil Stabalizer is some of the best oil additive I've ever seen. I've seen blocks torn down that used it and ones that didn't with about the same number of passes/mileage. The difference is amazing.

88IROCs

It's good to see that there are actual products that deliver what they sell. Judging by the number of favourable responses in this thread, I may check-out some Lucas products in the future.

However, I don't think anything short of voodoo alchemy is going to repair a cylinder wall once it's scored or worn down. If the debris in your crankcase managed to wear down the cast-iron's hone, how long is some magic unobtanium going to last? And who exactly is fool enough to think you can run an engine for more than a short amount of time with no oil in the crankcase. It isn't that the FTC said all the products in the suit might not provide some small amount of benefit, just that the advertised claims were false.

1MEAN92RS

BTW... It's not just 80w or 90w. I work at a lube shop and I've seen enough additives and oils to be able to tell the difference. Lucas has an almost (for lack of a better analogy) taffey like stickyness to it. It adheres to everything and prevents dry starts, which as everyone knows is the worst thing for an engine. You really should at least check it out. It can't magically repair a collapsed lifter, but I do believe it could make a damaged engine run much longer and better than without it. I swear by the stuff.

GTATransAM

I used ZMax on my 93 Grand Prix SE, and no problems so far, as far as performance...i wouldnt go that far But i dont know now if i should put that stuff in my new 87 GTA Trans Am that i got this week, car has only 35000 miles on it, but from what ive seen here, those ZMax products, or similar arent to good.

I mean i;m satisfied with ZMax so far, like i said my GP is running great, just dont want the almost "mint" GTA to mess up by pouring in this stuff into it.

Should i just staying away from those fluids and stick with plain old oil, and trans fluid? (which of course id put it in either way, its not a matter of substitute)

88IROCs

GTATransAm,

I'd say nothing is going to make the engine last longer than regular fluid changes. I prefer synthetic oil, but nothing wrong with conventional oil if you change it regularly. There's been a lot of debate here about this filter and that filter, but again if you change it regularly, I can't see the brand of filter making a big difference. With conventional oil, you should be changing every 3000 miles or less, with synthetic every 5000 or less. Make a point of checking the oil regularly(I usually pop the hood every 2 - 3 gas fills). If you occassionally beat on the loud pedal or run it hot, the oil will tend to break down faster than if you drive like grandpa. For the tranny, I've been using Royal Purple, because it seems to make the shifts smoother and seems to last longer. I've heard you can leave the tranny fluid in for 100K miles, but I usually change the fluid and filter every 15K miles(give or take a coupla grand). If you change at 15K miles, and run a magnet through the old fluid, you'd be surprised how much metal is in there(this why I change the filter at the same time, some garages will tell you that you can reuse the filter but, why would you when they only cost $15 - 20?)

I have two IROCs. One has 160K miles on it, the other 108K. Neither burns oil, both have good compression. Neither has had the block rebuilt(yet). Never been tempted to use one of these miracle additives to restore lost performance.

LilJayV10

iTrader: (5)

Lucas is the $%#@. We use it at work, for trannys and engines, and both are amazing. It quieten's(sp)engines down and smooths them out. And the tranny stuff is just plain amazing. I can swear by both of them because I have been using them and see what they do in a shop for 5 years now. Another excellent additive is SEAFOAM, its a fuel additive. I have put it in cars and work and test drove them, and you can actually feel the stuff make a difference. After that happened 3 or 4 times, I started swearing buy the stuff. I have used it in weedeaters that wouldnt run, put it in and they smooth out and run great, my mom believes in it after I did that. Just thought i'd pass some hands on info along. :lala:

Anth's Iroc

I used lucas oil stabilizer in my car and it worked really good.I would recommend it

YRUSOSLO

Royal Purple was tested on Hot Rod TV (i think that's the one) and in a recent mag. It boosted the HP 10- 15 with tranny-rear and engine all replaced w/ RP the cars were tested on the dyno taken off oil changed out and viola' instant HP

76L88

Here's another experienced opinion: Oil additives are even more useless than conventional oil. I have switched to synthetic in everything. And I disagree it needs replaced so often. I change my Amsoil synthetic annually or 25,000 miles and filter semi-annually, as recommended by Amsoil. The filters are approx. 5 micron, similar to the hi-po K&N. It worked for dad's pickup which he sold 14 years old at 160,000 miles with no engine work, and the 2nd owner still drives it 9 years later. That was enough proof for me, and there are many more success stories. ANother benefit is having to dump several gallons less used oil each year, since I have 4 cars and 1 bike. The oil gets black in my newest car ('99 Honda) at around 10,000 miles, but I don't believe color means anything. The only car I don't use it in is my '76 Camaro. It sees about 2000 miles/year and also it leaks out rear main therefore isn't worth the $5/quart oil that will only be in there a short time. Amsoil was the first synthetic and I believe the best, but I wouldn't knock other synthetics either. The key point is to try to stop using conventional oil.

Jer82Z28

I've been using prolong for the past 3-4 years. I got it free from my old job when the company got sold and things were being liquidated from their huge shop. I got 8 gallons of pure prolong, along with 16 gallons of prolong/synthetic mix.
I haven't experianced any problems at all. and we've been using it in every vehicle we have.

As far as people running these insane miles without oil changes. I don't buy that. the oil feild service company I work for does oil sampling on their heavy duty trucks constantly. They service their vehicle every 600 hours based on the samples they get.
That is usually after they put a filtering system on it overnight at least once in order to get the most out of the oil. They use the expensive sythetic oils with additives. however these trucks are put through A LOT

foney_email

I guess I need to get some lucas for my engine. I have no problems but is it a good preventative measure, or does the old don't fix what aint broken rule apply here??

MdFormula350

we have a 1989 chevrolet astro van, with regular mobil 1 motor oil 10w-30 every 3,000 miles and a new puralator oil filter, the original engine has 263,000 miles and still running strong.....

Sciguyjim

What's good in a dragster isn't necessarily good in the family car. Those engines are rebuilt often, yours isn't. Prolong achieves its good lubricating qualities by using oil which has been reacted with chlorine. Ordinary chlorine bleach will even lubricate to some extent. The problem comes from the fact that there's always some oil being burnt in every engine. When a chlorinated oil is burnt, it makes hydrochloric acid which can corrode your bearings. Also, the chlorine will eat up the platinum on the oxygen sensor. It's not worth it IMO.

RICH92RS350

Top fuel motors have their oil changed after every 1/4 mile pass.
(all 16 spark plugs too!)
-Rich-

91-Z-Speed

I used Zmax after about 140k miles on mine, and i noticed that my engine ran smoother, didnt really notice any power gains or nething such as that, but my car runs smoother and i do get better mileage, from 17 to 18.7. It worked for me.

88IROCs

The oil gets black in my newest car ('99 Honda) at around 10,000 miles, but I don't believe color means anything.

the color means a lot. when the oil becomes black, it is a sign that it has been overheated and/or broken down. the black color is caused by carbon deposits in the oil caused by the overheat or breaking down. next time you change-out some black oil put some fresh oil between your thumb and forefinger, and feel how smooth it feels. then put some blackened oil between your digits and feel the grittiness. your black oil is not providing the lubrication it should.

the $35 and half-hour it takes me to change the oil is cheap compared to the thousands I spend on performance parts every year, cheap compared to the tens of thousands of miles I put on each of my vehicles yearly, cheap compared to all the trouble-free hours I spend in each vehicle.

I have no problems but is it a good preventative measure, or does the old don't fix what aint broken rule apply here??
depends,... can you afford to be without the vehicle? can you afford the repair bill. if you're running a 500 miler and fixing a problem could put you down a few laps or lose the race, you take the risk and leave it out til the wheels are falling-off. and then you rebuild at the end of the day. if it's your daily driver and you need it to be reliable for several thousand miles and regular rebuilds are not part of the plan, then you have to think about preventative maintenance. and at the risk of overstating the obvious, the better condition your oil is in, the better lubricating it does.

maverick351ci

this is prolly a very old tread but as far as oil goes i will only use havoline or a valvoline product i have been working as a meachanic for a lil over 9 years now and i have seen what hardcore pensoil users engens look like trust me when you have only 8 lil holse for your pushrods to go trough becuse there is so much teflon left over build up from pensoil once you get rid of it the motor dont last too long heres my beliver of havoline and why i swere by it i had a 1974 maverick it was my first car it had a stock 302 in it in fact it was my dads care that i inherited after he died when i got it it had 476,063 miles on it with ould any major motor work the only thing replaced on it was the water pump it ran havoline its whole life well story goes my brother rolled my car so i got a new one maverick set it up for racing and put that stock 302 in it with out any work done just strait swap into the best i ran it for 10,000 more miles that way then i took the factory cast iron manifold and 2 barrle motocrap off it and slaped on a high rised open plentum intake with a 650 holly on top when i pulled off the intake there was no build up at all you could still see the casting writen inscriptions for inventory you know but i took it racing and with 500,000 miles on the stock motor with just a intake and a carb swap i ran a 13.36 2 years later i decided to drop a 351 winsor in it and i pulled the 302 down to my suprize the barrings still looked good and hadent exeted maxamum oil clearence yet so theres my story now i have a 85 firechicken with a 87 irock tpi swap 350 that i built under that runs like a top when its running right

91-Z-Speed

Havoline must not be that great, even the type of havoline used in NASCAR on Ricky Rudd's car goes out every 7-10 races, havoline is not an oil for use over 5k rpms if you ask me. Soem cars like different oils, mine prefers pennzoil 10w-40, its just like spark plugs, different parts, different requirements