I'm doing the head gaskets, and trying to get the fan and clutch assembly off. I have the ford procedure for doing so, but the exact details needed to achieve this simple task elude me.

The radiator is out and the clutch electrical connection disconnected.

I attempted to use my "special tool" (a 48mm wrench) to loosen the nut (which is barely visible), but I'm unable to break it free from the the shaft. It keeps turning my accessories.

The instructions say to "use a hole in the fan hub to prevent the fan from turning," but I'm unable to find a hole in the hub.

I am seriously confused.

I've read that you can use an air hammer to remove this nut, but there's no way I can see to get anywhere near the nut with the the air hammer. What am I missing?

Also, the ford instructions make a note of mentioning the assembly has "right hand thread and must be rotated counterclockwise to remove it," but that's the normal way to "unscrew" something. I am standing in front of the fan, pushing down on the wrench to turn it counterclockwise (lefty loosey). Am I doing something wrong?

And finally, the 48mm wrench I was told to use seems very large for the nut, with nearly 20 degrees of free movement. Is this in fact the correct size for this nut? I have a 3 inch adjustable, but there's no way it'd fit down inside there.

 

here is what i do at work. (im a diesel tech for ford)

its kinda strange that you have your radiator out already, i usually take that out after the fan is out lol. . . . but i digress. if you have acces to air tools i would use an airhammer, there is a special airhammer fan clutch tool kit that we use. anywhoo remove the two of the four 13mm bolts from the inner fan shroud (the two going into the intake) leave the two on the bottom as it helps support the shroud while your working the fan. next with the belts still tight hit the large nut on the backside of the fan (between the clutch and the water pump pulley)with either your air hammer or the large wrench you have. you can try (either you or a buddy) pull or push on the section of belt that is on the passenger side of the alternator pulley to give a little extra tension while you work the clutch. once you break it loose, just spin the fan till it comes off the water pump pulley. now you can let it hang and remove the lower bolts holding the shroud on, and remove the shroud and fan as one unit.

hope this helps

Chappy

edit: btw the air hammer uses a rod which connects to the hammer then on the other end hooks into the hook shape of the wrench end and by just holding the air hammer at an angle is what breaks it loose

 

I unplugged, and loosened the (4-5) 15mm stator bolts first, this gives you room to access the fan nut. Then, leaving the belts on the engine tensioned, I fitted an 18" pipe wrench to the fan nut, and then gave it a stiff whack to the left to loosen it. The fan nut is RH thread, it loosened easily. I bought the fan wrench too, the pipe wrench worked first shot!

My fan stator now hangs on the wall of my garage with a clock in it, I made a
bracket to reconnect the fan wires, no ill issues (as reported by many) with cooling, MUCH, MUCH easier to access the front of the engine!

John

 

I'm going by the book on this, since I've never pulled one apart before. It said drain the coolant, disconnect the oil cooler lines, unbolt a few mounts, and pull the radiator (with shroud). Then it says to use the special tool to remove the clutch. I doesn't bother telling me to remove the plastic half-moon accessory belt access cover mounted to the stator, or how exactly to find the hole in the hub to stop it from spinning.

After some careful consideration, it occurs to me that it's not talking about "the hub" of the clutch, but, possibly, the hub on the water pump, since that's probably what's threaded, but there's no way to see it with the stator in place.

On a whim, I decided last night to remove the bolts holding the fan to the clutch, thinking it would give me more access (and because step 4 says that, if necessary, remove them). But the fan doesn't come off. It only allows marginally more room and not nearly enough for my adjustable.

I found a youtube video that demonstrates the use of the air hammer tool you described. Looks like I should probably order one.

 

If so, the nut is standard thread. Just place the bit close to the corner of one of the flats on the nut and blip the trigger on the chisel. It will loosen almost instantly. If you want to buy those wrenches try harbor freight.

 

I have an air hammer, but I can see no way to get it anywhere near close enough to use it on the nut. The chisel is only 5 inches long, or thereabouts, so reaching down behind the stator with it doesn't seem feasible. Is there another access to this nut I'm overlooking?

I have a set of wrenches purchased from autozone, but they seem to fit very loosely. They also have square holes for a 1/2 inch drive breaker bar, but I can see no way to use it effectively without first removing the AC lines.

 

Get a longer bit

 

Lisle 43300 Pneumatic Fan Clutch Wrench Set - 8 Piece:Amazon:Automotive
This tool is the fastest and easiest way to remove the fan clutch. Btw its 1 7/8 fan tool that you need to remove. Or just buy this kit and never struggle again to remove a fan.

 

I bought exactly that through another company and I will be returning my autozone special as soon as it arrives.

Thanks!

 

I removed the stator (with the fan still on) to allow for more clearance. The instructions should really say to do this first, since it let me see the hub and everything else. I managed to get my air hammer down in there and hit the nut with it. I managed to beat the nut up pretty good. Whoever installed my fan must've been feeling strong the day it was installed, because there was a lot more than 98 ftlbs holding it on there. I'm 350, and I just about turned the topside creeper over trying to undo it with my huge adjustable wrench with a long 3/8 ratchet extension through one of the holes in the hub. If I had to guess, I'd say close to 4-500 ftlbs holding it on there. Even with the air hammer and chisel, it took almost a minute before it started to move.

I put a few pretty deep gashes in the hub nut (1/8th inch, maybe). Should I replace the hub, or just reinstall?

 

I'm telling you, if you used the pipe wrench you would have avoided this. When you hit a pipe wrench it behaves as an impact, due to it's weight, and it's large contact area, it left minimal marks on my hub. Funny, I did say to remove the stator first.

I only comment if I've successfully (and easily) performed a task, (without damage).............................your truck, do it your way.

John

 

The BEST trick I ever learned for getting a fan off a 6.0

 

Please don't assume that I didn't follow your advice. Your recommendation to remove the stator was spot on. I was simply suggesting that the instructions from Ford should include doing so.

The pipe wrench I have is smaller than my adjustable wrench, which has a longer handle, but slightly smaller flats (about 3/4 inch thick at the head). I struck this wrench about 20 or 30 times with my ball peen hammer without effect. I then hit it about 6 or 7 times with my 2.5 lb sledge with the same result.

 

To the OP. Did I read/understand correctly? You state that you REMOVED the fan STATOR (the piece that is secured to the engine by four 15mm bolts, the upper two of them to the intake) first, BEFORE you were able to access the hex of fan clutch? Exactly how were you able to achieve this (since the fan and clutch assembly would need to be removed with the stator as an entire assembly)? Did you cut the stator off, by any chance? Just curious.

 

I just changed my water pump yesterday. I did this the same way. If you take out the stator bolts you can pull it forward to the fan blades just enough. Without doing it this way I see no way to access the fan nut at all.