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Alpha fan clutch removal?

LT1 POWR

Probationary Member
Messages
3
Location
Colorado Springs
Anyone know the procedure for replacing the fan clutch on an alpha? I have a 2010 so I don't know if they are different or not. I don't think the fan shroud is the same as the I5's though and the clutch nut ins't 36mm. Also is there a better clutch alternative? I want to try replacing it first since its 9 years old before I try electric helper fans.
 
Last edited:

JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
Just did mine while on vacation. Easy peasy.

Need the fan clutch wrench you rent from autozone, the dual ended one with the 36mm end.

First remove engine vanity cover, then the intake tube between the airbox and throttle body. It's just the two clamps, plus the breather tube from the passenger side valve cover to the resonator, just unclip it from the resonator, the angle fitting pops out of it and stays attached to the hose.

Take the fan shroud off by first unclipping the bottom portion. There are two latching tabs on the bottom that clip into the main portion of the shroud, you can unclip them from underneath using a long screwdriver or similar. You'll also need to unhook the lower radiator hose restraints that clip to the bottom portion of the shroud. I was able to do all of the lower portion without removing my skid, but I have the Thor Parts bumper. The stock one will probably require removing the aluminum skid to reach everything. The bottom portion of the shroud will then pull down and unhook from the main portion of the shroud. There are a couple tabs on the top of the bottom portion that slip into the main portion.

Don't worry about pulling the bottom portion of the shroud all the way out, just get it loose from the main portion.

Once the bottom part is loose, you'll need to unclip the A/C line from the top of the main shroud, and detach the upper radiator hose from the radiator, some coolant will come out, but not a whole lot. Make sure to have a drain pan underneath to catch it.

Once the upper radiator hose and the A/C line are loose, push the A/C line out of the way and then you need to unclip the two latches on either side towards the top of the shroud, pull the shroud away from the radiator, and then start pulling the main shroud up to remove it. It will take a little bit of finagling, but it's not too bad.

Once the shroud is out you can easily access the fan clutch, use the 36mm end of the wrench you rented to unscrew the fan clutch nut. It is a left hand thread so you need to loosen it by turning the wrench to your left. The belt might hold the water pump pulley in place, but of not you can use a couple different methods to hold the pulley. One is to use a C-clamp large enough to fit over the water pump pulley and clamp everything in place (I think a 8 inch clamp is sufficient, might need a 10 inch clamp). Place the clamp over the belt to prevent damaging the pulley. Don't tighten it too much or it will bend it.

Another option (and I used this one last week) is to wedge a pry bar between the water pump pulley and the idler pulley to help keep everything in place. You should probably replace the belt while you're in there, so don't worry too much about damaging the belt.

If those both fail to allow you to loosen the nut, you can also use an air hammer to spin the nut off. I just do NOT reccomend using the same method to tighten it as it will just make it even more difficult to remove next time.


Once it's loose carefully finish removing it, you don't want to drop the fan and clutch and have it hit the radiator. Then remove the fan from the clutch and when you attach the fan to the new clutch make sure you have the fan facing the right way (easy way to do this is have both the old clutch and the new clutch sitting next to each other with the nut facing up before you remove the fan, and just swap it over to the new one without flipping the fan over or anything.) and torque the fan to clutch bolts to 15 ft/lbs. Some blue threadlock would be good insurance to make sure they don't back out later.

When you go to put the new clutch back onto the water pump make sure to get the nut as tight as you can, you don't want it spinning back off when the engine stops, which is possible if it is too loose. It doesn't take a whole lot of effort to do this though, I tightened mine up as much as I could before everything started slipping and it's been fine, it tightens when the engine is running anyway so don't stress over it.

Then put everything back in reverse order. When putting the main portion of the shroud back, make sure to get the two pegs on the bottom to go into the holes on the bottom of the radiator. Same thing with the bottom portion of the shroud, you need to make sure the two tabs on it slip into the slots on the main portion of the shroud before you clip the bottom portion into the main portion.




I hope this helps, it will make more sense when you get out there and start taking it apart. Should only take an hour or so to do. Once you have the radiator hose hooked back up, just top off the radiator, you shouldn't have to worry about air pockets or anything.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
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