Removing the fan clutch from my water pump

[Armycop]

Is a pain in the ass! I couldn't get enough tension on the belt to hold the bell pulley in place as I turned on the clutch fan nut (big mutha too). So, in desperation, I pulled the water pump assembly out. So now I've got the bad pump out with the fan and clutch assy. still attached!! Any ideas??:confused2:

 

[Armycop]

C'mon, anybody?? Thunder?

 

[JKmotorsports]

You need some special tools:
J 41240 Fan Clutch Remover and Installer
J 41240-5A Fan Clutch Wrench

One tool goes into the two holes on the front of the pulley to keep the pulley from turning as the other is loosening the hex shaped bolt behind it.

 

[Armycop]

Aha

I knew those holes in the pulley were there for a reason!! Guess I'll take it to my GMC dealer and see if they can hook me up. Thanks JK!

 

[greengumby]

Is a pain in the ass! I couldn't get enough tension on the belt to hold the bell pulley in place as I turned on the clutch fan nut (big mutha too). So, in desperation, I pulled the water pump assembly out. So now I've got the bad pump out with the fan and clutch assy. still attached!! Any ideas??:confused2:

WOW i must say your the first that actually I have seen to take the whole assembly off including the fan clutch

good job though !!!!

 

[Armycop]

Wasn't hard, I removed the fan shroud and then accessed the six 10mm bolts using my long socket and air wrench. Almost fell out!

Thanx tho!:shy:

 

[Armycop]

Update: I'm done

I took the old and new water pumps to a local shop, where they took an air chisel to the nut and rap-rap-rapped it right off! Then I had them install it on the new pump, samey-styly!

Got home this evening and it took me less than 1/2 hour to button everything back up! Liberal use of RTV too, just to make sure. Oh, torque on the six bolts is 11ft.lbs first pass, 22 ft.lbs second pass. CAREFUL: The bolts are aluminum going into an iron block; they will stretch, then break real easy! I used a 'lil over two gallons to refill the cooling system (dry it holds 16 quarts; that's four gallons). Took the girl out for a spin to warm up the engine, and whaddya know, no drips, runs or errors! Any easy project for any home mechanic with hand tools too. I've got air power, so it went a little faster.

 

[lestep01]

Water Pump fan assembly 1999 Tahoe 5.7 v8

I did the same thing. I got frustrated and pulled the old water pump off with the fan, clutch, and pulley still attached. I ended up buying a new fan, clutch, and pulley for the new water pump because I broke two of the fan blades fooling with it and the total price for all three parts was just over $100. The parts store told me there was a special tool to remove the fan, but they could not find it in their catalog (Napa Auto Parts, Memphis, TN).

I also need to repair the lower intake manifold gasket, but I started with the water pump and radiator hoses to elliminate sources of leaks. My Tahoe started leaking/using coolant a year ago at a rate of about a gallon every three weeks until this week it was up to 1 gallon a day, so I thought I had better do something about it. The local shop wanted $650 just to repair the intake manifold gasket and the water pump was extra on top of that. I figure I could save some money by doing the water pump myself, but I had not anticipated the trouble I had with the fan assembly.

I am not confident I can do the intake manifold gasket because of all of the linkages, wires, gas lines, etc. that have to be removed from the top of the manifold. I looked at the throttle lnkage and could not figure out how to disconnect the cables from the throttle body without breaking them. I guess I need a shop manual. Helm wants $300 for the DVD new, but I saw a DVD shop manual on eBay for $50, I just don't know if I can trust someone on eBay not to rip me off. I also saw the set of paper shop manual for $50 on eBay. Is the DVD better? It appears to have been revised since the paper manuals were printed.

 

[lestep01]

1999 Tahoe water pump and fan assemble

The new water pump and fan clutch that I bought at Napa Auto Parts is not reverse threaded. Are some of them reverse threaded and others not?

I have the heavy duty fan since I have the towing package, 4WD, and air conditioning, so I believe the fan is supposed to rotate in reverse direction. Did the parts store sell me the wrong water pump if it is not reverse-threaded?

 

[Darkitec]

You can buy the spanner wrench online for about $25 A whole lot cheaper than the $100+ my local Stealership wanted to charge to remove the clutch from mine. The wrench is one heavy piece of steel will last a lifetime. Took me all of 15 min from raising the hood to closing the hood to replace the fan clutch. Stealership sure thinks very highly of their mechanics to charge that much for 15 min. of work.

 

[GMsmallblockguy]

Another method that works pretty well.
Soak the nut with a shot of liquid wrench or PB blaster.
Wedge the biggest allen wrench you can through each hole of the pulley against the pump casting.
Use an 18"-24" pipe wrench or simmilar adjustable wrench on the nut and give it a few strikes with a mallet while applying pressure in the loosen direction which is counterclockwise.