Dealership put in Zmax during an oil change
 

I went in for my 3rd oil change today, when I got my car back the service rep told me they put in Zmax in my car free of charge. I was told apparently it increases engine performance, I didn't think much of it and drove off.

Later on in the day as I was leaving from work I got an engine light, I don't know if there is any correlation between Zmax and the light but I will be taking it back in tomorrow for a checkup,

Anyone heard of anything about Zmax? :ughdance:

You may want to check the oil level.

Don't most manufacturers advise against any oil or fuel treatments?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MXUMjGyxT0...0/snakeoil.jpg

Hmmmm

FTC Sues Speedway Motorsports and Oil-Chem Subsidiary

u're screwed

Well according to the TV commercials "Shelby" puts it in everything he owns. And we know he wouldn't sell his name out for a quick buck these days so it must be good.

Well I gotta go now I'm busy bidding on a case of autographed Mustang glove box doors and sunvisors on ebay.

additives are not needed or recommended at all......... once you put it in, you have to continue....... i would be :mad: pissed

I'm not a fan of any dealer doing something more than is required or asked for.

Kerosene works as a great cleaner too. Or Everclear. :rofl2:

I'd be pretty pissed. I'd have told them to drain the oil and do it over again while i watch.

Without asking? Make sure that is documented somewhere.

...and this is why I do my own oil changes.

This is always comforting:

"According to the FTC, the CRC L38 test is a standard auto industry tool to measure the bearing corrosion protection properties of motor oils. In February/March 1997, an independent laboratory performed two CRC L38 tests of zMax for Speedway and Oil Chem. In those tests, motor oil treated with zMax produced more than twice as much bearing corrosion as motor oil alone."

should really make like a list of dealers and crap they did.

I woudlnt have left the dealership until it was drained. I dont even know the product but my reasoning would have been, i never used it before, i never heard of it and now they give it to me for free? sounds suspicious.

OMG I'd be so upset. I sometimes wonder if I'm just being a snot with my attitude of never trusting dealership service departments. Then I hear about something like this. :shakes head:

Sorry dude, I'm not sure what to tell you in terms of advice. I doubt there's any correlation with the CEL though. I'd be very surprised if an oil additive triggered a CEL. Although I guess anything is possible.

I'm with Semtex on this. I honestly don't trust any dealership to do anything up to snuff. I think they are only good for purchasing the car but after that, I'll arrange everything on my own, elsewhere! Some might think i'm just being a "snot" or over-protective but I work very hard to obtain all my motor vehicles and take great pride in them and don't wish to jeopardize them needlessly by letting those re-tards touch them.

I don't know enough to know how it could have tripped a CEL though.

I mirror the above comments.

i agree with semtex as well. I had 2 dealerships mess my cobalt up cuz of spark plugs, they put in the wrong type, fried the o-ring on the valve cover and oil went all over the place and engine wouldnt start. I guess all u can do is try flushing that crap out and then put in other oil. Only thing i can think of, why the CEL would come on is maybe it didnt lube up a part good enough and something went wrong or maybe its not cooling parts good enough. Or could be something simple as in they didnt tighten a bolt or maybe the dip stick came out. Cobalts had a bad case of dipsticks poping out and it causes CEL to come on.

I usually get the first, oil change at the dealership on a new vehicle. Just so that if I ever make a warranty claim they can't say **** about improper regularity with my changes. After that I do them all myself. I also save the receipts from my oil and oil filter purchases with the dates printed at the top and write down the milage on them at the time of the change. I've never had to have warranty work done on a engine but in the event I ever had to I wanted to have as much information I could about previous maintenance available to me.

I know this isn't the dealer, but it goes along with the same reason why I never trust anyone to work on my car. When I can't do the work myself, I usually go to great lengths for proof of work done:

busted!

Either do it yourself, or sit there and watch the mechanic. If I drop my car off, I do not leave my car's side the entire time they do something. It's worth the extra time and effort.

And all of this happened in California. I thought they were supposed to be all about peace and love out there :icon17:

John

I love zmax I have used it about 3 times in my civic with no problem works great.

Did it help your sound system with all the bass and treble, in some wacky liquid form?

Works great...what kind of testing have you done?

lol since when was california designated to be the state of peace and love?

i have a pretty good background in automotive tech. and its amazing seeing and hearing all these things that happen. i myself have fun with it.. i like to pretend i dont know a thing about cars, so that if a certain mechanic tells me i need some bs done i just get in my car n leave. i understand theirs times when u cant perform a certain service on the auto so u take it to a "professional" to get it done, but the best thing ppl need to do is get educated and stand up for themselves. ppl need to realize theres always gonna b that person trying to make that quick buck.

They say Mineral oil is good for intestinal regularity too......:ugh2:

Synthetic or Dino?

:icon18: Good one.

Take the car back to get the CEL diagnosed. If I had to guess it could be the following:

- sometimes they check the air filter during oil changes. If they didnt put it back in properly or close the box right it could trigger the CEL. Also, one of the hoses might have gotten knocked off in the process.

- The PCV valve is sucking up fumes from the ZMAX they put in and its triggering a weird reading in the O2

- Guy didn't fully put in the dipstick or tighten the oil cap causing a slight vacuum leak. On some European cars (VW) the car won't even idle if the dipstick isnt fully inserted allowing air to come in.

Also tell them not to put in the ZMAX next time. If you feel like pushing it, ask them to drain it out again but the problem is those oil additives stick to the metal and dont always drain out fully.

Yeah according to their advertising, it actually soaks into metal. That's what would upset me -- if it really soaks in, then it's pretty much irreversible. It's not like they can suck it out of the metal.

zMax | Automotive

Well, maybe owner of this particular vehicle just got permission to drive the piss out of it and blow the engine, if that's true Semtex ;)

LoL! Maybe he's taking a nip from the Z bottle himself. I am always skeptical of this type of stuff. If its BS, it will dissappear in a few years anyway.
I will let someone else find out if it works or not. Until then there is a bunch of stuff that is proven to work like good oil.

I am sorry are you trying to be a smarty or actually making a joke. :ugh2:
Anyway it did help a bit I mean it was not crazy OMG this engine has an extra 100 hp but I could feel the engine run smoother.

Screw that. You didnt request it they didnt offer before hand and now your car is throwing an error light.. Tell me you have it in writing they added this crap to your oil. Now go back to the dealership and ask to talk to the dealer manager. Ask him to explain to you why this happened on a 34k vehicle. Now tell him what are you going to do for me to compensate for any unknown damages that may occur or have occured because of this. Lastly my favorite. Tell him you want an upgrade to a nismo edition or your going to report his dealership to the better business bureau and contact a lawyer.
Just my opinion. (fcukers):icon23: