Still enjoying the new muffler. . So far it's looking like my MPG has improved somewhere in the 10-15% range. Still too early to tell really, since A/C use, and driving style has made a big difference in mileage according to my logs.

On another note I finally got a big boy tool box the other day. So nice to have a place for tools, so I don't have to rummage around looking for them.




Lol, of course I quickly filled up the box, and already need a bigger one. Fortunately HF sells add-on cabinets and drawers, so I can expand.

I rented a u-haul trailer to go pick up the box, and the Blazer very nearly overheated on me. Got the hottest I've seen it get yet, so I need to figure out what the problem is. Not sure if it's the Rad, the shroud, or if the cheap e-fans I used are just not up to the task. Hoping to tow my jet skis on vacation this summer, so need to get that figured out.

Also, my A/C has just decided to stop working correctly. I've got some problem now where the blower motor doesn't work at all most of the time. . .then randomly while driving it will start blowing, then stop again. Not good since it' back to like 95 degrees here in FL.

It doesn't seem to be the vacuum problem I had with vent control before, since it doesn't blow at all when it's acting up now. Hopefully it's a simple fix, but if anyone has any experience with the same issue I would love to hear your thoughts.

 

So since my last post I've been having more issues with the Blazer running hotter. . . Between it being hotter outside, and because of that using the A/C all the time now. Also, from the previous post I fixed the no air problem by installing a new blower motor.

Decided to bite the bullet and ordered a new radiator. I would have gotten a bigger aluminum one, but wanted to keep the OE Trans & Oil coolers. Just got that installed yesterday, along with trimming down the upper and lower OE fan shroud. This time I tried to install the fans a little higher on the radiator.







A while back I had found the hose to my overflow tank was totally plugged up with gunk, so when doing the rad I fully removed all the hoses to inspect. Good thing I did. . . They all had a bunch of black crusty build up.



I squeezed the hoses, used a long screwdriver to break it all up as much as I could. Then went out with the pressure washer and really went after them. Turned out pretty well, glad I didn't have to go spend $100 on all new hoses. Here's just some of what came out:



While I had things apart I cleaned up a little, and hit the bottom of the battery box with a coat of rust reformer. Fixed a few fins on the condenser as best I could.





After putting it all back together and letting it run in the driveway there's definitely an improvement. Without the A/C running I could barely get it hot enough to kick the fans on at 200. Unfortunately with the A/C running after about 15 min or so it crept back up north of 215 again. . .Hard to say exactly since the digital dash is barely precise enough to be considered a gauge cluster lol.

First thing I checked the A/C pressure again. Somehow I had it way overfilled, even though I just filled to the correct pressure last time I topped it off. After fixing that the compressor seemed to be less of a load, and slightly helped the overheating. If I'm moving with the A/C on there seems to be no issue now. We just end up spending a lot of time stopped in traffic around here sometimes so I want to be sure I can have A/C and not overheat.

I've hopefully gotten all the air out of the system, but possible there's still a bit since I did have everything fully apart. It seems however that the Two 12" 80w fans just aren't sufficient in the South FL climate! So I guess I'll have to get something better soon. . .I'd also like to have a 2 speed set up anyway.

Another upgrade I decided I'm going to do as a result of all of this is the A/C. Upon inspection I saw that I still have the OE Tube and Fin Condenser, which was meant for R-12 and is not as efficient with R-134a. So I'm going to install a new Parallel Flow Condenser. My compressor is also making terrible noises again too. Rather than getting another R-4 style Compressor, I'm going to upgrade to the Sanden 7 piston Compressor - 4864. I'll need to make or order mounting bracket to make it fit the OE location. Also going to add an additional filter to protect the new condenser.

The Sanden compressor should not only be quieter, but should be less of a load on the engine on top of getting colder A/C. Since I'm seeing like 2-3 MPG reduction in mixed driving from running the A/C now, I will hopefully see an improvement with the new compressor. Between the Compressor/Condenser being more efficient I'm also hoping it will be a little less of a strain on the cooling system. It will probably be a little while as I hunt for deals on parts, but I'll post a full write up of the A/C upgrade once I get it done.

 

Do the fans have two separate temp switches? One for a lower threshold and one higher?
Also, do you run the fan/fans with the A/C on?

Are these single speed or two/three speed fans?
The A/C condenser will put quite some heat into the radiator when in slow traffic with little or no airflow. A proper radiator shroud could also help the problem.

 

I have the fans wired with two separate 30A relays, but they're both single speed (cheap) fans. I've also got them wired to come on together on a temp switch on at 200 ish and off at 185 I think. (would like to get a colder range switch) I've got a manual control switch in the cabin too, so I can manually turn the fans on when running the A/C. . . This is my temporary solution until I wire in a trinary switch or some other kind of control that kicks on the fans when the A/C runs. I only run the A/C with the fans on, otherwise the compressor overheats quickly.

The new OE radiator definitely helps. . .Again without the A/C on it takes a very long time to get hot enough to trigger the fans. It's really just that the fans don't move enough air. Not sure I've ever seen a 3 speed rad fan, but there's a 14" 2 speed unit on amazon that looks pretty good like $80/ea. I believe the OE Dodge Intrepid fans fit the blazers as well, so that's another option I'm considering.

 

A solution that works.
Shrouds are important. We had a project car with the radiator in a bad position. Even with a strong fan it would get too hot when being driven at higher rpm. A proper shroud with the same fan cured the problem.

 

Not much else done on the blazer lately. I still haven't gotten around to building a new shroud or replacing the fans with better units. The battery crapped out on me too, so it's just been sitting in the garage mostly while I drive the Audi. Just remembered my Trans Am has a good battery, so I just robbed that for the Blazer. Will be nice to get it back out on the road again.

I also just picked up another new vehicle for the wife. 2011 VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI. . . Got a pretty awesome deal on it because of a few issues, so working to fix that up right now. We'll probably end up using this for trips more than the Blazer going forward, because how can you argue with 40+ mpg.

Looking more closely at the 2.0 TDI engine specs, I'm starting to think this would actually make a great swap into a Blazer. 140hp 236 ft-lbs in stock form. . .with a tune and exhaust 180 hp and like 280 ft-lbs. That's pretty darn close the the hp of the 4.3 CPI and more torque. Once again just wishful thinking here, but I've been pretty surprised by how quick the Sportwagen moves down the road with the little diesel. . . and the blazer isn't that much heavier. It would be pretty awesome to have a 30 mpg Blazer. . . maybe one day.

 

Wow - what a revival. I had a 4 door '94 that was red with the silver 2 toned like that with a black leather interior back in the day. My ex totaled it.. I've looked but never seen another one like it.

 

I had a company truck while working at a fire protection company. It was a '92 s10 longbed 4.3 2wd auto. When I got it, it had 92,000 mi. When the company got me a new Ford Ranger ( PUKE). The S-10 had 360,000 mi. only repairs distributor, 250,000, rearend, 300,000, plugs/wires as needed, oil and filters. It had hauled 13,000+ on a 20' trailer to the scrap yard. wish it was mine now

 

Thanks, It's been quite the on going project. I still have lots of stuff to do to it, that I need to get around to. Wife is pregnant so lately most of my time/energy/money has been going into getting the house projects finished before the baby arrives.

Wow, that's too bad. My cousin's dad had a brand new 92 that was Red/Silver, pretty sure theirs had grey leather interior though.

 

Dang, that's some mileage. It seems that so many of these are quite happy to run to 300k+ without much trouble. What's shocking to me is that you were able to pull 13,000. I've probably only pulled like 2,500-3k max and it never seems terribly happy about it. It also doesn't help that my trans likes to start out in 2nd sometimes. . . .Again I'm still wishing I'd have bought a re-man transmission, but I'm up to like 11,000mi on my diy rebuild so I guess I can't complain.