Thread: Viscous Fan won't come off

Originally Posted by Debacle

The question is, if I undo the three nuts holding the water pump pulley on, will I be able to get it off that way. I don't mind removing some of the blades with a dremel as the fan is stuffed anyway and being replaced with electric fans.

No, the fan screws onto the pump shaft itself.


One of my cars had it's fan Loctited on & tightened up .
I initially tried to remove it for a radiator replacement & gave up. A few months later, I replaced head gaskets & attacked it again.


I used a blow torch & chisel to finally crack it & then used a screwdriver against the pulley bolts to hold the shaft while undoing the coupling. It was tight all the way off.

Try getting a long chisel in there whack away , especially if your going to leave it off anyway.

If undoing it in the anticlockwise direction is impossible then you might have to take off the whole pump. First off though I'd make a tool out of two lengths of flat steel bolted together at one end, bolt the other end to two pulley bolts and brace the tool as you apply force to the fan spanner.

Originally Posted by bee utey

If undoing it in the anticlockwise direction is impossible then you might have to take off the whole pump. First off though I'd make a tool out of two lengths of flat steel bolted together at one end, bolt the other end to two pulley bolts and brace the tool as you apply force to the fan spanner.

I am replacing the water pump as well as removing the radiator and getting it rodded, so thinking if I can get the lower cowling detached and move it towards the engine enough to get the radiator out that might give me enough room to get tools in to remove the fan and water pump as one unit and bin it. I would just be up for a new water pump pulley then.

Is the pulley flat or grooved ?

Flat, Serpentine Belt

Is your belt still on?

You need a tool to hold the fan pulley. Get a 100mm wide length of 5 or 6mm flat bar, cut a rectangular section out of one end, 47mm wide and 60mm long. You can then use this as a holding tool against the 4 bolts holding the pulley to the spindle on the timing case housing, while you undo the fan nut. Same principle as wedging a screwdriver against the bolts, but more robust.