Any way to relieve the stress the AC puts on the engine?

Gas mileage improvement

 

Get a prius

 

For the win.

Folks buy a small pickup the complain about mileage, power and capacity. Did they not engage their brain before making the purchase?

Over the years I drove everything from an S-10 to an F-250. Various Chevys and a couple of Tundras. Came time to buy my retirement truck I looked long and hard and selected a Tacoma. I’m happy.

 

on previous vehicles, I have insulated some of the AC lines to help it to be more efficient and get colder. can find hose insulation at home depot and give it a whirl. Doubt that really does much or changes your mileage...

 

On your profile pic your running monster tires and towing a boat...

 

It's obviously Toyotas fault though.

 

Turn it off

 

That too, can't hurt your engine if its been taken out

 

On second gen Toyotas , that darn ac compressor runs when the defrost is on . There is a mod to turn the ac compressor off during defrost .
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/a-c-on-with-defrost.7160/

But because you are first gen , I am not positive a modification would help alleviate a failed compressor due to the always on theory . It may save a little fuel on the cool days

 

I seem to recall a study way back when compressors were far more taxing on the motor. At that time the determination was mileage reduction from using AC was the same as the mileage loss from air drag from the windows being down.

 

Try turning it off. Thats about it

 

Mine runs when the defrost is on as well. ACs dehumidify air by nature so it helps to un fog a windshield quickly.

 

Oh yeah they termed it "the AC-linked defrost" in the brochure when I bought mine new in '01.
As for the OP, I never monitored my gas mileage with AC on, but I do know that the AC in my Tacoma puts no notable strain of any kind on the engine. It barely changes idle when turning it on which means idle compensator is doing its job just like it did in '01. I've been really lucky that all systems in my truck have been stellar in operation all these years.
I do recall that the AC in my '86 GMC Jimmy worked well, but put such a dramatic draw on the engine when it kicked on/off that I could feel it sucking engine power.

 

You could find an underdrive pulley. It will usually be slightly smaller 10-20% and made of aluminum but it drives all components at less speed so less parasitic power loss...

 

Years ago I had an '82 s-10 base pickup with an extremely anemic Isuzu 1.9L that coughed up a tiny 84hp. And my 4400lb '86 GMC Jimmy on 33s with a 6" lift had a little 305 v8 that put out a measly 155hp. They refer to those days as the "malaise era" of the auto world.

 

Yep! The best thing to do for MPG in this case is to go back to stock size tires or regear


I doubt you will even notice a MPG difference with the AC off/on if you're running 33s or greater on stock gears.

 

Something that modern cars are increasingly equipped with are variable displacement compressors. Instead of cycling on and off at full capacity, they just continuously vary output to match cooling demand. I think they also tend to run all the time, so not sure what kind of fuel savings or cost they incur. It would almost certainly IMO not be cost effective to do that kind of conversion just for fuel savings.

I'd argue that he Malaise Era was pretty well over by the mid '80s, but would also agree that the wheezy 305 could be considered an artifact of it.

 

i personally enjoy complaining about all 3 after adding on a bunch of armor

 

My truck hates its current gearing. What’s a good gear ratio for my usage? Lot of freeway miles with monster off-road tires