Replacing fan clutch

atalarico

atalarico

Senior Member
Why is nothing ever straight forward?

So, these four 12mm nuts are REALLY on tight. So tight that I'm stripping them. I'm also physically moving the whole pulley wheel. If I'm not mistaken, isn't that going to cause issues when I go to start my engine?
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I'm at a loss here. Here I thought "4 bolts, no big deal. It'll take me 10 minutes..."
 
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Annnnd if I paid a shop to do my timing belt (which included a water pump) and that shop warranties their work, can I call them up to ask if they may have over torqued these and if they could fix that?

I even have flare but wrenches that feel like they're going to strip them.

I sprayed some PB Blaster so I'll let that sit I guess but I'm nervous about getting that on the belts here. Is that ok?
 
Turning the pulley doesn't hurt anything. You need to use a box end wrench on those, preferrably a 6 point instead of 12. You'll need to use a pry bar levering off of one of the nuts and the center shaft of the fan clutch to keep it from turning while you loosen the nuts.
 
are you sure you are unscrewing in the good direction?

On the visible stripped bolt, the stripped lip of metal seems to go in the ''screw on'' direction.

I just changed my original at 200K miles and they were not that bad to unscrew, and I live in a salty environment.
 
pauldub said:
Turning the pulley doesn't hurt anything. You need to use a box end wrench on those, preferrably a 6 point instead of 12. You'll need to use a pry bar levering off of one of the nuts and the center shaft of the fan clutch to keep it from turning while you loosen the nuts.
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Ok, in that case I'm going to rotate this to the nut I haven't touched yet. Hoping if I get two decent ones off, it'll make getting the stripped one off a bit easier.

Does a flare nut wrench count?
 
diverscale said:
are you sure you are unscrewing in the good direction?



On the visible stripped bolt, the stripped lip of metal seems to go in the ''screw on'' direction.



I just changed my original at 200K miles and they were not that bad to unscrew, and I live in a salty environment.
Click to expand...



I'm not ruling anything out here, but this is a righty tighty lefty loosey situation, right?!

The mega stripped one was because I questioned that and tried turning it to the right to make sure. Also, I've sometimes found that tightening a stuck bolt will sometimes help break it lose. Not the case here.
 
I'm really starting to think the shop that did that timing belt work a couple years ago maybe torqued it to 64ft/lbs instead of in/lbs? No way though. They only do Toyotas and Lexii and im sure the dude could do it with his eyes closed.
 
Use either a long handled 6 point box wrench or use a metal pipe as a handle 'extention'. You can also use another wrench in a lever manner to make it longer. Don't just apply force to it- do several hard whacks to get it moving. This will help the stripping.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk
 
Yeah, this ain't happening. I think these things are seized or were over torqued. I found the best looking bolt, and was both pushing with the pry bar, and trying to turn the wrench, and nothing. Wtf. I mean, I'm turning counter clockwise to loosen it, right?!?

Yarg

I'm going to step away from it now. Maybe the PB blaster will help overnight, and I'll give it one more try tomorrow. In the meantime I'm going to go confirm he did replace the water pump. He covers his work for a long time, so I don't think that's unreasonable, is it?
 
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AntleredRuin said:
Use either a long handled 6 point box wrench or use a metal pipe as a handle 'extention'. You can also use another wrench in a lever manner to make it longer. Don't just apply force to it- do several hard whacks to get it moving. This will help the stripping.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk
Click to expand...



Tried that. I have a pipe for such occasions.

Only other option is to try a long handled wrench. I feel like even that snap on ratchet would strip it at this point. It's like these nuts are made of brass (and not in a good way).

I have pretty freakish grip strength for wrenching (thanks, climbing!), and I am giving it all I have and trying not to let fly off the nut or have my hand get impaled if it does break free.
 
I'm honestly thinking the only way I can get this is by finding someone with something to cut the faint clutch shaft off. That way we would have a straight shot at the bolts and could hit them with an impact wrench.

This is the story of my life.
 
atalarico said:
I'm honestly thinking the only way I can get this is by finding someone with something to cut the faint clutch shaft off. That way we would have a straight shot at the bolts and could hit them with an impact wrench.

This is the story of my life.
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Remove the radiator and shroud then you will more room.
 
Well, the invoice says 1yr/12k warranty on parts and labor...and it was done in 2014. So, maybe I can ask him nicely hat in hand?

As for removing the radiator...no. I just went through hell and back this past weekend installing a transmission cooler, upper and lower hoses, and refilling it all with new fluid because the old fluid came gushing out of the "screw cock" or whatever that thing is called and was rendered unusable since it got contam'd with oil and dirt.

This was supposed to be a 15 minute job. ****in eh.
 
Huh...I just saw on a BMW forum that theirs are reverse threaded. We sure I'm not supposed to be turning to the right?
 
Well, saw this happens to some people over at the Ih8mud forum, and some people talk about chisels and replacing the studs if you get too crazy with the chisel.

Sigh. Ordering new nuts anyway, so there's that.
 
You need a 6 point close end wrench with a small breaker bar. I use 2 box end wrenches locked together as an extension. Kinda hard to explain how to do it. Also, have to get it all the way on. Dare I say that a good quality wrench would do the trick here too.
If your turning towards the PS pump your good.
If you do break the studs, you'll have to replace the fan bracket (Asin $100) They really should break loose if you get a good bite on them though.
 
atalarico said:
Well, saw this happens to some people over at the Ih8mud forum, and some people talk about chisels and replacing the studs if you get too crazy with the chisel.

Sigh. Ordering new nuts anyway, so there's that.
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They have the nuts at HD, although I think they're 13mm not 12mm
 
atalarico said:
I sprayed some PB Blaster so I'll let that sit I guess but I'm nervous about getting that on the belts here. Is that ok?
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Definitely walk away from this and start fresh once you settle down, been there before. Even without any rust, nuts/bolts can get "seized". Soak the shi* out of those bolts with penetrating oil and let it sit for maybe even a couple days & re-soak as needed. During that time see if you can get a hold of good quality long box end wrench and give it another try. If it still doesn't work then explore other options.
 
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