Removing Fan Clutch on '99 4.3L

[dogtired78]

Hello everyone,

Question: I'm trying to remove my fan and clutch assembly to get to the water pump. I followed the Chilton's manual (which is identical to the one on autozone's website) and removed 4 short 1/2" bolts from the fan clutch. Should the unit just come off the spindle now like they show in the pics or does it need to be "spun" off the spindle?

I know previous messages talked about bracing the unit to keep it from rotating when you're trying to apply torque to the bolts...is there anything else I need to know?

[tom3]

Does that 99 have the big nut on the fan clutch at the water pump? The big nut holds the fan on, the four bolts hold the pulley on.

[fdafire]

dogtiered i just changed my water pump on my wifes 97 blazer. you need the four bolt on the pulley to hold it still while you turn the fan clutch nut. I went ahead and rented fan clutch remove tool. What I had to do is loosen the four bolts enough to wedge the removel tool between the four bolts and the pully. This holds it from turnning while you turn the fun clutch nut. If you can't get the removal tool you could try to wedge a pry bar or something between the bolts and the pully to hold from turning. But i would be carefull if you try it. My fun clutch was not reverse threaded like i thought. so it was lefty loosey for mine. Yours should be the same but make sure. I also removed the tentioner and the top pulley to make it easer to get to the pump. once i got the pump out i scraped the old gaskets out. I used a little silocone to hold the new gaskets and the bolts in place on the new pump while i placed it back in. I hope this helps. I don't know if i did something wrong or if it was a bad coincidence but when i took it out for a test drive the alternater went out. So I had to change that. Her truck has all most 100k so that might be why. I now its running a hell of a lot better now.

[dogtired78]

Yeah, let me tell you what a PITA it was to rethread the bolts onto the water pump pulley!

Also, now I've got a $50 tool (NAPA didn't have one I could rent) that I won't be needing (hopefully) for another 100k miles. Anyone interested?

Thanks for the help, all. Now to replace the electronic shift motor and see if I can get my 4x4 to quit slipping.