I was wondering if any of you have used oil and fuel additives like the ones offered from zmax or prolong (I know there are a few more but those are the ones I could think of at the moment). I was thinking about using the Zmax stuff, to gain some mpg, and possible an extra pony or two, but wanted to see if toyota trucks gain anything from them. So if you have used any, have the results been positive, negative, or nonexistent? And what did you use, and what model truck did you use it on? Thanks!

 

...than you could ever want to know on fuel and oil additives.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/

 

I went there, but it didn't help much. The site seems to be a big advertising site. The guy writing the articles seemed to be trying to sell the Schaeffer's oil. Only two tests were done, and both used Lucas, and neither time was the lucas added to the schaeffers oil.

So as I said, from personal experience, what have you guys found to work? I guess while I am at it, has anyone used Royal Purple oil? I think it was Hotrod magazine, or autoweek that tested it, and they gained 15hp by switching all their oiled components to royal purple full synthetic.

 

The Federal Trade Commission has determined that Prolong, zMax, and most of the other brands of snake oil are a scam.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1999/9909/prolong.htm
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2001/02/zmax1.htm

"...tests cited to support performance claims actually demonstrated that motor oil treated with zMax produced more than twice as much bearing corrosion than motor oil alone, and that the three different products - an engine additive, a fuel line additive and a transmission additive - were all actually tinted mineral oil."

"This case is the latest in a series of FTC law-enforcement initiatives targeting unsubstantiated claims made by auto additive manufacturers. 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."

There is nothing you can buy over-the-counter to improve the oil that the oil company organic chemists and tribologists have put into their oil. Each oil is formulated to meet a certain price point...if you want better lubes, buy better stuff; don't try to brew your own.

I think that Royal Purple is excellent oil, but hard to justify the price for most of us.


Ken

 

Thanks KLS. Thats $30 in my pocket.

 

Spend your money on good synthetic oil. There are tons of lab reports showing less wear and better protection with synthetic.

 

That's good stuff KLS, thanks. I saw the zMax infomercials maybe a year ago and was really considering buying the product when I saw it at Autozone. I had forgotten about it until I saw this post, and now I can forget about it again.

 

I agree with Victor entirely. Use synthetic motor oil and your worries are over. My toyota 4x4 has 110K miles and still runs like brand new. I have been using Mobil 1 10w-30 since for over a 100K miles.

My advise is to use a fuel additive (Techron) after every oil change to keep the fuel system clean.

 

LEARN FROM MY MISTAKE. NEVER put anything besides oil or gas or coolent into your engine. I learned the hard way by trying to clean the intake with a spray on liquid (consentrated carb cleaner)
And I snapped a rod! $3,000 bucks on an engine and $700 on misc parts, I learned my lesson!

 

I put the prolong tranny stuff in my 94 tercel when i had it, and it shifted much smoother (automatic)

 

They make a special throttle bottle cleaning spray. It will clean the intake and throttle body without ruining the sensors or being as flammable as carb cleaner.

 

I don't touch the stuff there are enough additives in the oil and gas already .