97 2.2 S 10 question

[Gamikatsu]

OK,

here is the skinny. I recently sold my 89 K5 blazer/jimmy, and bought a 97 S dime with the 2.2 (guessing its an ecotec?) with 5 speed. Truck runs great, has absolutly no power, AC blows cold, and is in really great shape. here is the low down on the motor. the guy i bought it from was an ASE mechanic, he pulled a 98 Sunfire motor, completely rebuilt it, and replaced the original motor with it. new piston, rings, rods, gaskets, bearings, etc. motor has 5k miles since rebuild. i thought it would get great gas mpg, but i'm getting 21 mpg highway, with AC on, cruising at 75 mph. about 15-18 in town with AC. is that about typical for this truck? its all stock but when i bought it i immedialy dropped a KN drop in filter. I plan on putting AC delco Rapidfire spark plugs, and new wires on it, even though the plugs are supposedly new, but wires look old. Oil has 1500 miles and 3-4 months on it, but is literally still clear. I have not pulled the plugs to see how they look yet. i really like the rapid fire plugs, and have seen 1-3 mpg gains in other chevy vehicles using them. I know the AC is killing my mileage but with it being 96+ here plus heat index... its necessary for my comfort. What mods do these little 4 banger S dimes respond really well to? i know i want the exhaust to remain quiet... no cherry bombs for me please. its a Daily driver and hunting truck. will really never be used to haul or tow.

 

[jeff's88silverado]

I had one dont expect any power they're pretty much gutless. Your mpg is about right for driving hard. You can get better mpg but you gotta drive it like that little old lady driving to church on sunday. And the mods i remember doing the best on my little 2.2 was CAI and electric fan.

And in my situation i sold my 88 silverado for the s10 for better gas mileage but lack of room, quality, power, and not really a great amount of mpgs difference. I sold it and bought my excab 400

 

[Gamikatsu]

i put a KN air filter, and oil change with Royal Purple. definatly made a impressive difference in the ammount of drivability. have not refilled fuel to see if it made a difference.

 

[nate3531]

I have a 1998 s10, 2.2 5 speed. It is actually my son's but he is consistently getting 24 around town, I figure it will do 26+ on the highway. No mods at all on his and has 150k on the clock. So I'd guess something is out of whack on yours to be getting mileage that low.

I'd start by getting it scanned for codes, and then check the O2 sensors, plugs gap, proper tire inflation, and believe it or not brakes for dragging.