zMAX

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MrQuackers

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I saw the engine treatment (part no. 51-212) at Kmart for $5! Is this stuff worth it? There is also a $3 MIR so pretty cheap. I see on Amazon great reviews, all of them.
 
$2 plus postage after rebate? And not one bad review on Amazon. Can't be that bad of a snake oil.
 
BTW I just got a reply from the General Manager at zMAX letting me know that there is no limit on the rebate, so I will get some.
 
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Let us know what kind of results you see when you use it. Maybe take pictures inside the oil fill hole before and after, note fuel mileage, etc.

Any data you can provide on this product would benefit the BITOG community

Hope it works out for you!
 
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Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
maybe for that price, but it is pretty much just snake oil.

May or may not be 'snake oil' but definitely it's just oil - about 99% mineral oil - no other notable ingredients. Search this site or the web for zMax or Linkite (sometimes spelled Lenkite or Lenckite) or Avblend - (they're all the same product). Yes, it's very pricey.
 
I did save my money. I bought 4 for a grand total of $10. Rebate will be $12
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Originally Posted By: MrQuackers
I did save my money. I bought 4 for a grand total of $10. Rebate will be $12
laugh.gif



So did I back in the day.

And I saved even more when I stopped using it
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Originally Posted By: MrQuackers
I did save my money. I bought 4 for a grand total of $10. Rebate will be $12
laugh.gif



Care to share where it is this price?

When I've seen it, it's way more expensive than just about anything else on the shelf.
 
Originally Posted By: Apollo14
Originally Posted By: MrQuackers
I did save my money. I bought 4 for a grand total of $10. Rebate will be $12
laugh.gif



Care to share where it is this price?

When I've seen it, it's way more expensive than just about anything else on the shelf.


I got it at Kmart. Probably just a local clearance but I will check other Kmarts when I can. I bought the 4 they had left @ $2.50 each.
 
I found that it cleaned better than that auto rx stuff..... zmax is great at carbon and varnish removal.

Nk
 
Originally Posted By: nicholas
I found that it cleaned better than that auto rx stuff..... zmax is great at carbon and varnish removal.

Nk



OK. But I did some tssting with Zmax and it didn't remove anythng but $40.00 from my wallet.

What did remove carbon was LC20. I tested that one, too.

You guys really need to look at some of the older four or five threads on Zmax and try to examine OTC claims with a bit more technical acumen. Just MHO.
 
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One guy on this site has some impressive videos after using Zmax. It was definitely doing something in his sump. He has before and after oil filter dissections on youtube that are worth seeing.
 
...or you could just pick an oil and let it work more or less like the formulator intended.

I do have a question for MolaKule. When one adds one of these additives to your engine oil is there any expectation that the oil may now not be capable of meeting the spec's listed on the bottle? To pour the entire contents of one of these bottles of what-ever-it-is additives into an average engine is quite a hit.

As I understand it, formulating an engine oil for sale that meets these spec's required by the API and manufacturers is no small task and different formulators have different methods and resources to accomplish their work.

How could one bottle of additive anticipate all these circumstances and still perform as claimed even if they claim to treat the engine, not the oil. In other words, do these additive makers have some knowledge that is possessed by no on else in the business of lubrication? Do they know something that Mobil for example does not know?
 
How many people use the same oil, every oil change? There is a significant residual when changing oil.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
When one adds one of these additives to your engine oil is there any expectation that the oil may now not be capable of meeting the spec's listed on the bottle? To pour the entire contents of one of these bottles of what-ever-it-is additives into an average engine is quite a hit.

A tireless choir on this forum says that additives do nothing, short of taking your money. Given the small amount of additive involved, it's most unlikely that they would change the specs of the underlying oil, whether the additives do nothing or otherwise.

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
As I understand it, formulating an engine oil for sale that meets these spec's required by the API and manufacturers is no small task and different formulators have different methods and resources to accomplish their work.

It's no small task in the minds of those doing it. I noticed you addressed this question to Molakule. That's rather like asking a restaurant or movie critic if his job is important. You are likely to hear that it is not only important but it is also so complicated that you could not possibly understand the questions, much less understand the answers.

Study the analysis done by Petroleum Quality Institute of America on a variety of popular synthetic oils. First note that every oil in this table meets API SN and ILSAC GF-5. [BTW, if you don't want a synthetic, look around the PQIA site - they test just about everything oily.)

The first conclusion you might reach is that it's not that hard to meet the SN and GF-5 standards. Start with base oil stock and add calcium and magnesium (both necessary for the 'detergent' nature of the oil) and a good dose of phosphorus which comes from ZDDP - an anti-wear additive. If you did nothing else, you should have an API SN and ILSAC GF-5 compliant oil. If a company or its tribologist is not not smart enough to figure it out, they can just look at the PQIA figures - their work is done for them.

Pennzoil Platinum uses this formula (plus a small dose of molybdenum) as do several other oil companies (with or without the molybdenum). Virtually everything else in the mix is just a trace element or impurity.

Granted, some of the oils tested by PQIA are different - really imaginative. Castrol Edge and Schaeffer's Supreme are examples, but then Castrol has always marched to a slightly different drummer. Most motor oils are just copies of each other (very much like most consumer products). And, they're all API SN and ILSAC GF-5 compliant!

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
How could one bottle of additive anticipate all these circumstances and still perform as claimed even if they claim to treat the engine, not the oil. In other words, do these additive makers have some knowledge that is possessed by no on else in the business of lubrication? Do they know something that Mobil for example does not know?

How can a motor oil anticipate all those circumstances and still perform as claimed?

There is probably no unique or secret knowledge possessed exclusively by a large oil company or an additive maker. But that does not mean that 'big oil' uses all they know or makes the best product possible. Oil companies are in business to make money (and they are very good at that). If they make a decent product along the way, that's great, but that is not the business they are in. Else, why would auto makers have to specify Top Tier gasoline or the use of Techron or VW specify an MoS2 additive for its engines.

As for perform as claimed that's rather subjective. Many additives will simply boost the oil's content of one or more ingredients - moly or titanium or ZDDP or boron. Maybe it's better, maybe not. Clearly the oil companies themselves don't agree. Maybe your favorite oil does not have enough boron to suit you? Just add a bit of Motor Silk to the mix and you could turn your Pennzoil Platinum into Pennzoil Ultra (quite literally). BTW, boron is an anti-friciton additive - makes the oil slippery.

Some additive makers have more credibility than others... the same might be said for oil companies. Do you really want to buy a motor oil marketed by Lucas? How about a Lucas additive? And, in more than one case, e.g. Quaker State, the oil company and the additive maker are the same company. Do you trust them more now that you know this?
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
...or you could just pick an oil and let it work more or less like the formulator intended.


Quote:
As I understand it, formulating an engine oil for sale that meets these spec's required by the API and manufacturers is no small task and different formulators have different methods and resources to accomplish their work.


It is no small task but educating the oil consumer on how oils are formulated has been one of my goals here.

Different oil companies do have different formulating philosophies which are highly dependent upon available PI packages and base oils. The final mix, when tested, determines the suitability to meet various specifications. Much R&D and testing from labs to fleets are done to meet specifications.

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How could one bottle of additive anticipate all these circumstances and still perform as claimed even if they claim to treat the engine, not the oil. In other words, do these additive makers have some knowledge that is possessed by no on else in the business of lubrication? Do they know something that Mobil for example does not know?


Quote:
I do have a question for MolaKule. When one adds one of these additives to your engine oil is there any expectation that the oil may now not be capable of meeting the spec's listed on the bottle? To pour the entire contents of one of these bottles of what-ever-it-is additives into an average engine is quite a hit.


No one bottle of any OTC additive can anticipate the operating conditions of the engine, no one bottle of any OTC additive can anticipate the internal conditions of the engine, and I doubt any OTC additive can predict the synergistic effect or antagonistic effect of the additive with the PI package.
 
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