S10 radiator fan changes?

[bennelson]

Hey Atilla,

Mine is a 95. Love to hear what great economy you are getting.

I think mine is just nothing fancy. It's fairly rusty underneith

Otherwise, it's just a real stock truck - 2.2L 5-speed.

After my first tank of gas I ever put through it, I was frankly a little disappointed in it's fuel economy.

[Atilla the Fun]

That should be the 2.2L before the Ecotec 2.2, If I'm not too much mistaken. Those poor little things have to work so hard to move a heavy brick like those redesigned s-10s. Your truck is a few hundred pounds heavier than mine. For an experiment, you could try one tank of gas not using 5th gear at all. How many miles on your truck? I forgot to mention that with both of mine, and in fact every car I buy, I use a can of RESTORE, you can find it at wal-mart. Are you on any of the s10 forums?

[bennelson]

105,000 miles on my truck, but the underbody looks like more, because we have so much salt on the roads in the winter around here.

Not a member of of any S10 forums, guess I would be interested if you can recommend a good one.

[Atilla the Fun]

Well, I've just registered with three a couple weeks ago, not sure which one I like best. www.s10forum.com, www.s10forums.com, www.mys10.net. hth

[PatrickL]

I've got a '97 S10 with the pre-ecotec 2.2 and 5 speed. I have removed all my tools and put 49 psi of air pressure in the tires. It has gotten just over 31 mpg on each of the last 3 fill ups. I was getting ~27 before removing the tools and pumping up the tires. I would think 24 mpg is a little low, but fuels are different in different parts of the country. I live in Western NC for reference.

I would like to know what kind of gain to expect by going electric with the fan.

[whokilledthejams]

I used to have a 95 4-cylinder GMC Sonoma (i.e., S10). When the fan clutch gave up the ghost, I bought an electric fan, wired it up all half-assed, and it worked really well. It actually ran slightly cooler, not to mention not having all the drag, weight, and vibration on the engine. I don't think I got better FE out of it, but I always consistently got 30mpg (I once got really excited about a 32mpg tank) on the highway anyway. Mine was a 5 speed, 2wd, with a tonneau cover, and lowered a tiny bit. Either way, it did make the truck smoother, quieter, and a little peppier-feeling, so I couldn't complain.

I don't miss that awful, awful truck. The last year I had it, I spent more money fixing it than I did on lease payments on an 05 Subaru Impreza the following year (vastly less useful, much more fun, faster, and about the same FE as the truck). Besides that, I don't miss getting roped into helping people move furniture.

Don't forget to change your U-Joints!

[daklein]

bennelson,
I have a '98 s10 4cyl manual (without factory A/C), and the power steering and the mechanical fan were not watching their backs. It is pretty simple to use a short belt to run just the alternator and waterpump. Not sure how this would work with A/C, you'd probably have to quit that bad habit at the same time too...

Remove the fan, but put the fan pulley back on for use as an idler pulley. grind away a little bit under the thermostat housing for clearance to the belt. In the direction of belt travel: Belt comes off the crank, around the idler and alternator as before. then over the top of the fan pulley (this is where you needed the clearance), originally went under the fan pulley. And back down to the crank, the water pump is driven from the back side of the belt between the fan pulley and the crank. The water pump is still driven in the normal rotation, the fan pulley turns opposite so you probably want the mech fan removed.

What's it worth, I don't know, it's directionally correct, I've moved on...

I did put an electric fan on, but have never used it because I didn't finish wiring in a thermostatic switch, and it is not required the way I drive. With normal practices discussed here, (turn off engine while coasting or stopped). I should have not bothered putting in the fan. Anyone want an elec fan from a v6 camaro, with a couple aluminum angle pieces to fit in a 4cyl s10? 20$ ? I've never towed anything, but I have had it like this for about 15 months and never seems to be an issue.

The steering is obviously not great for parking lots, but really it's much better otherwise, the steering does not change assist as you start & stop the engine.
Dale

[extragoode]

So you can just remove the belt from the power steering? I have been told something about looping hoses every time I've asked. I loved my s10, but I was only getting about 21mpg out of a 4cyl 5spd reg cab because of a leaky wiper ring that caused it to loose compression. Drove it like that for a couple years though before a deer finished it off. The tank still drove just fine once I wired the headlight back in place, but it wasn't worth fixing.

[daklein]

Originally Posted by extragoode

So you can just remove the belt from the power steering? I have been told something about looping hoses every time I've asked.

Seems to be fine, I wouldn't loop the hoses. The twist bar in the ps control valve makes the steering wheel feel like it's hooked to the rack with a torsion spring (it is...) so it feels a little different at very low speeds. If it doesn't feel good, just put the belt back on.

Without the pump running, but with turning the wheel back and forth, you can get fluid spitting back out of the reservoir, until maybe the fluid level gets lower I guess. I have not noticed this on the s10. I have noticed this on my car, and a friend's ford, when doing lock to lock turns in the garage with the engine off, when checking tire alignment.

You know you are giving up something, assist in parking, which is usually just a convenience. Another more important thing to think about or test for yourself is how much assist your (or you wife's) particular set of arms need in a higher speed avoidance lane swerving maneuver. For me, it's fine, I'm used to it and a fast steer event is still possible, and safe, I feel.

[festivaWES]

Just buy a steering gearbox from a box style s-10 and swap it out. If you choose to go that route you would have to keep your a/c or get a bypass pulley in its place.

I currently have a taurus electric fan on my s-10 but it pulls way to much amps. My a/c is gone as well. I average 26mpg right now, but they only reason being is that i have a lead foot and i have 4.10 gears out back.

And dropping your tailgate does not raise your mpg's...