Dreaded fan removal made easier

turbobill · **Posted:** Wed Dec 14, 2011 7:12 pm

I am due for 100,000 mile maintenance and I recently had to replace my thermostat. I decided to replace my thermostat ahead of my maintenance so I could play with my GKs during their Christmas break. Since I stripped off my hoses and such to get at the t-stat I thought I would go ahead and pull the fan, then just run without it until I did my maintenance. I plan to replace it with a fixed fan since I tow about 1/2 the time (bass boat).

I used the hammer and wrench technique on three different occasions with no positive results. After studying the fan pulley I tried some screw drivers and other pries to try and lock the pulley while I wrenched it off, also to no avail. This work did spark and idea to make a tool that would lock the pulley against the engine lift bracket mounted at the front of my engine. If I could make one it should REALLY simplify this process.

I found a piece of steel rod that is an orphaned under car spare tire handle extension. It is 5/16 to 3/8 in diameter. Using a grinder I shaped a tip that would easily go into the holes on the fan pulley. Using a vice I put a 90 degree bend about 7 inches from the tip (looks like 8 inches would work even better), then using a hack saw I cut the end off so the bend had about a one inch tail.

Using a vice and hammer I put a bend in the rod so it would lay flat against the bracket when it was in the pulley hole.

Using the tool I locked the bracket in place by turning the pulley with a wrench then with just a bit of pressure broke the fan nut free. Now with the tool I can break my fan loose in 1 - 2 minutes. Time to make the tool was about 30 minutes, with an extra minute needed to break the fan nut loose.

For those of us that have a grinder, vice, hack saw and a piece of steel rod laying around, this could be a great way to go if the hammer-the-wrench technique does not work.

I am so impressed with the ease of pulling my fan, and the room in the bay that I am not going to replace my water pump and maybe not my idler/tension bearings when I do my 100,000 maintenance, just replace my timing belt. Looks like a gamble of an extra hour to hour and a half in time, if I ever need to go in again. AT 200,000 I'll do those deeds then.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Thu Dec 15, 2011 8:57 am

Nice job. Probably worth a post in the CRD tech section as it's a good cheap solution. I have the Lisle fan clutch tool and that works well with the help of a 16" screwdriver as a holding tool but the fan clutch tool is not cheap.

turbobill · **Posted:** Tue Dec 20, 2011 6:04 pm

Papaindigo, I thought this post would get more traffic than it did since I have not seen any posts about custom tools for locking the pulley for fan removal. The tool is simple to fabricate and cost me nothing. I think even a piece of 3/8 re-bar would work for tool stock. It turned the job of fan removal into a 3 minute task. I am going to install a fixed fan for summer driving but will pull the fan in Winter so the jeep will heat faster. I tow a bass boat with the jeep and in summer it heated up to 235 a couple of times. I am not as concered about the engine as I am the transmission. I am considering installing a large transmission cooler.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 20, 2011 6:29 pm

The tool in link below takes that 3min job and makes it 10 seconds,granted costs more and requires a air compressor and air hammer.No holder required.

http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-43300-Pneumatic-Clutch-Wrench/dp/B000JFJLTC/ref=pd_sim_auto_6

papaindigo · **Posted:** Tue Dec 20, 2011 6:40 pm

Yeh I have the fixed fan package sitting in my garage kind of waiting until I do the serp belt to do the install. I had a similar experience pulling my 18' cat hull although I did find I had a miscalibrated temp gauge (see the GDE chat) on my 2005 so maybe the reading was a bit bogus. Anyway I don't really trust the viscous clutch setup.

Wish you had come up with this idea earlier as it would have saved me laying out $s for the Lisle tool but that tool also turns the job, minus time pulling the fan shroud, into a 2 minute job. I'm toying with several ideas on that stupid fan shroud design so I don't have to ever remove it again. There is the Aussie mod that trims it on the sides and uses some strap plates to attach the top to the bottom, the cut it in 1/2 just below the bolts and leave the bottom 1/2 off that geordi and I did a few weeks ago, or there may be enough room to ditch the little bottom flap and do a bit of trimming on the bottom so the shroud will clear the front of the fan. We shall see sometime early next year.

tjkj2002 - when we used the Lisle tool the serp belt wasn't quite enough to hold the fan pulley from turning (darn overtorque at the factory) but sticking a 16" screwdriver down in there as a holder did the trick. Fan off in just seconds. For those that are interested just the Lisle impact rod and CRD sized wrench can be purchased at Amazon for somewhat less than the kit.

ChesterCRD · **Posted:** Tue Dec 20, 2011 6:46 pm

tjkj2002 wrote:

The tool in link below takes that 3min job and makes it 10 seconds,granted costs more and requires a air compressor and air hammer.No holder required.

http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-43300-Pneumatic-Clutch-Wrench/dp/B000JFJLTC/ref=pd_sim_auto_6

You got me TJKJ. I wasn't quite convinced the first time you posted it in another thread, but after all the problems people are posting with that fan clutch removal, I am going to try it. Merry Christmas to me. :BANANA:

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 20, 2011 7:04 pm

papaindigo wrote:

tjkj2002 - when we used the Lisle tool the serp belt wasn't quite enough to hold the fan pulley from turning (darn overtorque at the factory) but sticking a 16" screwdriver down in there as a holder did the trick. Fan off in just seconds. For those that are interested just the Lisle impact rod and CRD sized wrench can be purchased at Amazon for somewhat less than the kit.

Yeah sometimes you run into a stubborn one.I use that kit at work alot and maybe about 25% require a little more holding.Generally those are on high mileage vehicles though that never had the fan removed,or when some idiot decides to use loctite thinking the fan may unscrew itself.

ebbnflow · **Posted:** Wed Dec 21, 2011 2:16 am

I've used an air hammer with a long chisel bit. I put the chisel blade right on the edge of the nut and pull the trigger. I tighten it back up the same way. I have not done this on my jeep yet, but have done it this way on other vehicles. Works fast and does not require a $120 single purpose tool.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:41 am

turbobill's holder idea is a good one especially if you have the proper long wrench to reach down to the fan nut. If you want to go the Lisle tool route then you can get just the appropriate wench and the "handle" that goes into the impact driver for ca. $50 total which in hind sight is what I should have done. Alternatively another member used a holder, a long wrench and a palm nailer instead of a big hammer.

As to putting the fan back on IMHO I would not do anything more than spin it back on until it stops with no extra tightening and maybe with a dab of anti-seize. Engine rotation direction relative to the fan nut is such that the fan can only tighten down further during operation (e.g. it cannot unscrew so I see no need to tighten it on reinstall)

Squeeto · **Posted:** Wed Dec 21, 2011 12:51 pm

Fine idea. I will probably build one of these and weld a bolt to the end so it can be nutted to the lift point bracket.

DynoPax suggested that a 14 or 15mm open/box end wrench with a nut and bolt would do the same job. I haven't tried this to see if it would work with my wrenches though.

turbobill · **Posted:** Fri Dec 23, 2011 7:54 pm

I used a 16" pipe wrench to pull the fan. It was just narrow enough to fit on the fan nut soI had to bend the tool so that I maximized clearance or It would have been off to the store for a box end wrench that would fit. Wish I had thought about using the impact wrench, I got one of those. I am sure my fan was never off since the factory put it on, but it really took very little force to loosen it, I bet the impact hammer on the handle of that pipe wrench would have worked just fine. Oh, well, since I will be putting a fixed fan on each spring and taking it off each fall, the tool will be put to good use.

I am cheap, my tool is free to me, only took 30 minutes to build, and will work every time I use it so I am pleased with my result.

Squeeto · **Posted:** Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:11 pm

turbobill wrote:

...my tool is free to me, only took 30 minutes to build, and will work every time I use it so I am pleased with my result.

I make tools all the time.
I like this better than the open/box wrench way anyway. I just mentioned it because not everyone has a grinder or steel rod about. I have both. Also, I don't like shear torquing my good wrenches in a manner they weren't designed for.

Dreaded fan removal made easier

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