clutch fan help

mb128 · #1 02-19-2010, 06:18 PM

ok so im replacing my water pump and i cant get the clutch fan off! is there any tricks to get it off? i tryed putting it in gear getting the tool that didnt fit. any tips will help

greyghost · #2 02-19-2010, 06:40 PM

you need to either borrow or rent a strap wrench, or make do with an old drive belt and some vise-grips. If you have the strap wrench, go ahead and fit the strap around the water pump pulley. If you don't have one of those tools, you can use an old drive belt. Wrap it around the pulley, then clamp the belt with some vise-grips so it's tight around the pulley. Don't clamp the pulley itself, just around the belt where it comes off the pulley.

Step five is loosening/removing the fan clutch nut from the front of the pump shaft. Ideally, you are using a 1 7/16 open-end wrench for this. I didn't have one of those, so I used a pair of large water-pump pliers. Commonly called Channel-Locks, these pliers have a large adjustable opening that will fit around the nut on the fan clutch where it mates with the water pump shaft. While holding the strap wrench (or the old belt and the vise-grips,) turn the nut with the wrench or water-pump pliers. Mine came loose quite easily, with just a single hard yank to get the thing free. The direction of loosening may be different on your car, incidentally. My 4.0 liter V-6 has standard right-hand threads. Some cars with other engines may have left-hand threads. Check for the thread direction on the fan shroud; mine has 'right hand threads' molded into the plastic at the top.

mb128 · #3 02-19-2010, 06:57 PM

i will have to get a strap wrench tomorrow. the threads on the new pump are back words

Americantruckfleet · #4 02-19-2010, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greyghost

you need to either borrow or rent a strap wrench, or make do with an old drive belt and some vise-grips.

Got another way to do it if you are interested. A little more simplier but requires more complex tools. If you have an air hammer, Matco Tools or Snap-on Tools makes a Fan/ Clutch Remover Adapter. It is a big 1 7/8 wrench (and other variable sizes) that has a hinge on the other end of it. The force of the air hammer drives the hinge, which in turns drives the wrench to turn that fan clutch nut like BUTTA. Its what i did with mine. And while you are holding the bolts on the front of the Water Pump pulley with a water Pump bolt wrench it should keep it all from moving on ya... thats how its done man.... I mean we do the same thing on peterbilts and big rigs and such....

o and did i mention that was my 100th post! BOOYA

mb128 · #5 02-19-2010, 10:58 PM

but how much does that tool cost? i have a air hammer. link of where to get one?

Americantruckfleet · #6 02-19-2010, 11:02 PM

itll run ya about 250$ but it comes with all different size wrenches man.... it does the trick man. Just google it man they are out there.... its better then F*cking up your wrenches when applying force to em... it also doesnt even harm your fan clutch nut at alll

mb128 · #7 02-19-2010, 11:05 PM

thats a good idea ill look it up i cant afford that but ill look it up. im planning on starting a shop after college and that will make life alot easier

Americantruckfleet · #8 02-19-2010, 11:07 PM

My dad owns a truck shop here in michigan man... he owns every single Snap-On tool you could dream of man! SOO many tools... I mean you kinda have to when you are working by the book... and that book sucks especailly when you have to do shit with improvised shit like an old belt and vise-grips.... you just cant make a living like that man.

mb128 · #9 02-19-2010, 11:12 PM

ya im not even in college yet i just got in i start either next month or this summer its a 2 year class they go over everything

Americantruckfleet · #10 02-19-2010, 11:19 PM

Best of luck to ya man.. that tool wouldn't be a bad investment either man. Now that you know what you need to look for, it shouldn't be tooo hard to come across one to just borrow it. People that need to take that pesky clutch nut off in a jiff own one to do just that. I am sure that if you know the right people, you may come up a lucky dude. For me its my Dad.... so uh that makes me a lucky dude. lol

Best of luck man... let me know what happens tommorow...i will be watching

mb128 · #11 02-19-2010, 11:21 PM

all right thank you

Areyouforcereal? · #12 02-20-2010, 04:37 PM

Another tip is to just use a long heel bar and hit the nut with a hammer. I used this method twice with success. The third time It was too tight so I had to use my air hammer on it. Got it off but beat the crap out of it and messed up the threads on the water pump. but it was ok cause I no longer needed to use them. E-fan, all the way. One of the best mods.

Americantruckfleet · #13 02-20-2010, 08:12 PM

what? an "E-fan"? I bet it is some custom mod needed to keep a truck on the road down there in those hot climates... I am guessing it some easy off easy on system. I am in Michingan... Details?... My guess is if your living in the Dunes it may make sense to have that option available, just incase.

mb128 · #14 02-20-2010, 11:17 PM

so we had to call someone we didnt have the right tools to do it and i couldnt get my stepdad buy the tools to do it. well calling someone turned out VERY good for me i helped him do the water pump and he offered me a job!! on the up side i finely got my fuel filter changed wile we were at it so it turned out good

Areyouforcereal? · #15 02-21-2010, 04:23 PM

Good news man congrats on the job.

And Corey, the e-fan is a custom job. I became tired of the fan clutchs locking up and it sounding like an airplane taking off all the time. I don't know why they kept seizing up but they did. I tried a flex a lite e-fan setup that is made for rangers but it didn't cool worth a crap so I returned it. I read somewhere that the e-fans on the older model taurus's pushed somewhere around 3,000 cfm. So I got one from a junkyard for $25 and installed it with a simple on/off switch to a continues heavy duty relay. It works great. To test it I let the truck get hot enough for the check guage light to come on then turned on the fan and it went back down to normal in less than a min. It's also nice to turn it off for water crossings, to keep from splashing the engine. The only downside is that it pulls a lot of amps. I've had to up the wire size a few times to keep them from melting, and it'll dim the headlights a little while at idle. I do have a high amp. alt. and as soon as I'm off idle the lights return to normal. Pretty sure the stock alt. will handle it but not positive. I'm gonna replace the radiator in a few weeks, and re mount the fan. Maybe I'll do a how to write up on it while I have it all apart.