Hi All,

The water pump pulley on my 2003 excursion has broken! I ended up having to remove the whole assembly fan, water pump pulley and water pump as one unit. I put a cutting wheel on my grinder and removed the borked pulley. I used a chain wrench and a fan nut wrench to remove the fan (that was a PITA). I replaced the water pump, water pump pulley and the drive belt. I have spun the fan back on, but there's no room to torque the fan nut down ... is there a trick to tightening the fan nut?

TIA,
George.

 

There is a special tool/wrench that is made for tightening the fan nut. If I remember correctly 1 7/8" nut. The tool kit has 2 wrenches, one to hold the pulley from turning and the other to tighten the nut.

I borrowed the tool from Autozone. If you check with them they might have one. Caution there are 2 sizes. and only the 1 7/8" will fit your truck.

The way to remove the water pump is to use the special tools/wrenches to remove the fan. Then you can remove the pulley and the water pump.

Best of luck

 

Vettdrv,

I actually bought the fan nut wrench (and a chain wrench). I have already removed the fan nut. My problem is on the installation. I can get the fan nut wrench on, but there's literally no room to turn the wrench when it's placed on the fan nut.

I have installed in this order,

1. water pump
2. water pump pulley
3. drive belt
4. fan shroud support
5. the fan

#4 is in the way whether it's bolted on or hanging loose. is there something I am missing?

Thanks,
George.

 

I just did my WP last week on my 7.3. I had to secure the shroud. Then install the fan. The wrench was a very thin wrench. The wrench to hold the pulley was not a chain wrench but one that is about 1/8" thick and holds on to the bolt heads that secures the pulley to the waterpump.

This was the only way to get it. I also had to use a box wrench as a semi extension to get enough leverage to tighten the nut.

It was a two person job,, but with enough !##$#@! I was able to get it on and tightened.

 

Well, I finally got it!

I am not sure what it's called, but I'll call it the fan shroud support. After I put the fan on I was able to unbolt the fan shroud support and wiggle it around for just enough room to tighten the fan nut. I had to tighten it from underneath .. and yes you are right it was a 2 man job ... what a PITA. Thanks for your advice!