I saw the informecial for z-max with all these people saying this snake oil works. When I saw the one testimonial from the guy with the chevy rape van who said "I needed a new engine, my rings were shot, but z-max changed all that...blah, blah, blah" I figured it might not hurt to try it. Now here's the test. I own a 1983 Chevy Malibu Station Wagon with a 3.8 v-6. I paid $450 for this car, to use as a shop vehicle. It has 190,000 miles and has never had the engine rebuilt. It has one bad ring, blow by, bad valve seals, leaking gaskets, fouled plugs, tapping lifters and so on. I figured if Z-max could do something for this car, it's a true miracle additive. So I bought the stuff and added it. Here are my instant results. The Z-Max engine additive improved the idling of the car, making it a lot smoother at idle. But the product did fail to quiet engine noise. It seemed to stop the car from smoking, at least temporarily. I did feel a slight increase in compression. As for emissions, visually it seemed to stop any smoke. I can't vouch for if this gross polluter will now pass the dreaded CA emiisions inspection, which it has continually failed. Now for the fuel additive. It seems to have improved the gas mileage somewhat, but nothing that any $1.99 bottle of stp fuel additive can't do. My package did not come with the transmission additive, so I can't post any results. It would be interesting to see what z-max could do for my $200 vocational school rebuild transmission, that clunks, slips and leaks! I'll post more info as I continue to test this product on the "VEHICLE OF DEATH!"

Allright folks. I wanted to update you on the latest news with Z-Max in the Malibu. Since yesterday when I installed this stuff, here is how the car is doing. On start up, the car still smokes. The exhaust is white and puffy like oil is getting past the rings. Once the car warms up, the smoke seems to go away. At idle and while driving, the car does not seem to smoke what so ever. From what I've gathered, here is my Z-Max conclusuion based on what I've already experienced. Z-Max is a quick fix to major problems. This product buys you time in order to find another car, fix yours or whatever. It is not a permanent fix and at some point your car is just going to be beyond help. It will HELP seal small ring gaps, but if your rings are just gone, you're screwed. Unlike such products as Slick50, Motor Up and Duralube, it uses another method besides the classic thickening of the oil, there for making engine noise go away and stopping oil from seeping past the rings. Z-Max will most likely not load up your engine and cause things to get clogged up, unless it may loosen up exisitng sludge in your engine. Z-max is uncapable of quieting valve noise, rod knocks etc, due to it's thin consistancy. The fuel additive does seem to make a small difference, but works about as well as most $3 bottles of fuel additives availible at such places as Kragen, Chief and Auto Zone. Unless something amazing happens that changes my opinion, I believe Z-Max is just another fancy additive in a pretty package. Slick 50 High Mileage Formula is good for quieting engines and prolonging life. Stick with CD2 and Bardahl's NO SMOKE for "tired" and smoking engines. Both of those seem to work pretty well, improve compression and stop blow by.

Did I get you right in that you say it seemed to help your car somewhat, but didn't exactly transform it into a NASCAR rod? I think it works, probably not as good as advertised, but it seems very pricey. By the way, oil blowby is always blue in color. White indicates water...maybe a coolant leak into the combustion chamber. Try some stuff that eliminates coolant leaks and that should help you along in tranformation of your car.

Try reading the posts of a guy named Smoot...he's got a bit of a wise ass disposition, but seems to know his stuff. He evens speculates as to why this zMAX works, and I think he may be on to it.

I wanted to update you all about the latest results of my z-max experience. My car is smoking again, my oil consumption is still bad and my fuel economy has gone back to what it was before. I have only driven like a thousand miles since adding this crap. Z-max will not restore old engines, like it states in the commercial. This stuff is not a miracle drug for old cars. It is not like "pouring a new engine into your car." I swear by bardahl's no smoke!

My first and only thus far package from Canadian Crappy Tire had the tranny, fuel and oil additive. I added it all.. when my fuel line was @ 1/4 of a tank. Then I took my car for a drive - Sounded different, quiter. The motor rumbled a bit at a stop light, as if to say something was happening. Took it too the highway, floored the poor thing hard, felt slightly faster pickup, although noise level of flooring it was the same. Auto Tranny shifting a little smoother. Spent an hour on the road, various level of speeds, sounding all about the same.

Then I was running low on gas. I went to work abit then broke for lunch, filled up my tank. By the time I got back to work on this full tank of premiun Petro Canada gas, the motor sounded like I'd never put ZMAX in.

Although my tranny doesn't stick the way it used to. The fluid is over a year old now (no telling how long its been in there), I'm going to wait maybe a month and then change it.

I agree /w Jack. This product is only effective for a short time. You're better off saving your $. BTW: I have a '86 Chrysler New Yorker TBI 2.5l, 148k miles. Burns oil on startup.. and likely leaking oil via the oil pan gasket.

But I'm no car techie.

I recieved a refund check in the mail because zmax supposedly could not back up there claims and therefore were forced to issue refunds. I got my check a couple of months ago. I didn't notice any big difference in my car but maybe a slight increase in milage for about the first tankful. My opnion is try something else.