fan clutch need help

[Keaton]

i'm trying to get to my water pump and i cant get the fan clutch off. need some help. is it self tightening?? if i'm standing at the front of the car do i turn it counter clock wise?
anyone in az that can help over the phone

[Jimmie Jazz]

The threads are opposite what is normal. To loosen the fan clutch, turn the nut clockwise. (from the front of the car).

[Keaton]

do i need a special tool or something? i tryed using a cresend wrench and a a screw driver (to stop the pully from stinning) and i cat not get it to move it just bend the screw driver.

[Octane]

There are special tools out there for it, but you can use a screwdriver to keep the pulley from moving while your turn the clutch. do a search its been discussed pretty recently.

[Keaton]

i dont have time to do a search i have 1.5 hrs to get this off switch pumps and get my car going so i can get to work

[Keaton]

ok so one of the bolts snaped that hold the waser pump in, i'm i screwed of will this still work?

[Jimmie Jazz]

Did it snap upon removing it or replacing it? If upon removing it, you still have a bad water pump in the engine, so you shouldn't drive it or else you'll bake (overheat) the engine. That's a disaster. If it snapped while replacing it, that means you already have a new water pump installed, and I'm guessing the other bolt (s) are okay. Unless it is leaking, you might get by driving with the snapped bolt for a while (until you can have it removed and replaced) but it would be risky.

If it snapped while removing it, continue with the job and remove the old pump. After you remove the pump, enough of the broken bolt might be visible to grab onto and remove. Before trying to remove it, spray it with WD40 or another penetrating oil/loosening agent and let it set for a few hours, then do it again to be sure you get the full benefit of allowing the oil to seep into the threads as much as possible before attempting to remove it. Give it a couple of sharp raps/taps with a punch or other heavy steel tool to try to break it loose. Without the bolt head (the part that snapped off) attached, the torque on the threads is greatly reduced, and it may wiggle free. If not, you'll have to be careful to get a good grip on the bolt with vice grips or something similar, or you'll end up twisting off the steel of the bolt while trying to unscrew it and end up losing the ability to grab hold of it at all. In extreme cases, you might have to take the car to a mechanic who can weld something onto the protruding bolt, so that it can be unscrewed with the extra leverage of the welded on extension.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out for you.

[CoolJoe]

No special tools needed just use a 32m or 1 1/4 wrench. Give it a good couple of solid wacks counter clockwise & the fanclutch should just come off. Works for me. Good Luck Champ. :thumbup:

[Jimmie Jazz]

No special tools needed just use a 32m or 1 1/4 wrench. Give it a good couple of solid wacks counter clockwise & the fanclutch should just come off. Works for me. Good Luck Champ. :thumbup:

What? Counter-Clockwise? That will TIGHTEN the fan!
From the Bentley:


Belt-driven cooling fan, replacing
1 . Using a 32 mm wrench on fan clutch nut, turn wrench
quickly in a clockwise direction (working from front of
car) to loosen. Spin fan off pump. See Fig. 8.
NOTE-
" The radiator cooling fan nut (32 mm wrench) has lefthand
threads .
" The nut may be difficult to loosen. Use a tool to hold
the coolant pump pulley stationary. BMW has a special
tool for this purpose (BMW special tool no. 115
030).
2. Remove expansion rivets holding shroud to radiator.
See Fig. 9. Remove fan and shroud together.

NOTE: Store the removed fan clutch assembly in an upright
(installed) position to prevent loss of clutch fluid.

3. To replace fan clutch, remove fan mounting bolts and
separate clutch from fan .

4. Installation is reverse of removal .

Tightening Torques
" Clutch nut to coolant pump (left-hand threads)
Wíthout BMW tool no. 11 5 040 . . . . . 40 Nm (29 ft-lb)
With BMW tool no. 11 5 040 . . . . . . . 30 Nm (22 ft-Ib)
" Fan to viscous clutch . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Nm (89 in-lb)

[JBURGS47]

get the special tool. It saves a lot of work. You probably just snapped the bolts that hold the PULLY onto the waterpump, so once you get the tool, you will be able to get the bolt out with a vicegrip.

The tool cost me $30 with 3 day shipping on ebay. I just sold it here for $27 shipped.

Do it, the screwdriver method is a bitch.


YEAH reverse thread btw.... spin to ur right

[Jimmie Jazz]

Yeah, hopefully it is only those bolts (there are four of them), but since the pulley is made out of a composite material (not metal) it is probably more likely that the pulley itself would break before the bolts snapped.

[CoolJoe]

[QUOTE=Jimmie Jazz;8993467]What? Counter-Clockwise? That will TIGHTEN the fan!



DOH !!! :banghead: My bad!! You are correct Jimmie.

[baghram]

ok so one of the bolts snaped that hold the waser pump in, i'm i screwed of will this still work?Actually that was quite a funny post, Mr sub-zero :D
Hope you fix it, success