Clutch fan removal

[RichardT]

Ok made my mind up after talking to the Folks at the Ford place to change my own water pump. I read a write up on how to go about it. Doesn't seem to hard. to do. EXCEPT for the clutch fan removal. & getting the air out of system. In the write up I have seen where he used a fan Clutch tool? will this work? Or is there another way to do this. Also how do i go about making sure i have all the air out of the sysem?

[RichWT]

I went with a 14.99 air chisel from harbor freight and it was almost too easy, 1200 miles later have had no regrets about it. Some seem concerned the fan clutch may not like the abuse. I took that risk

Go straight down on the nut for one "burp" to get a nice clean little divot. Then hit it at the sharpest angle you can get away with. IIRC I stood on the drivers side and spun the top of the nut towards the passenger side. Keep the belt on until u get the nut loose.

I went with fleetrite ELC looks like koolaid and it seems to work fine.

I didn't bother blowing the coolant out with air. I just kept flushing and flushing till it I was sure it was clear. My truck has made it ten years with all that casting sand in it so if I get the majority of it I am happy.

Hope this helps. It took me a little over 6 hours for the flush and pump change and I am by no means a mechanic.

[RichWT]

Edit: if u have an e99 iirc ELC is not recommended

[bigb56]

You can borrow a fan clutch tool from AutoZone or Shucks (or whatever they call it) or Oriellys. You basically buy it then bring it back within 48 hrs for your money back. If you are handy at fabrication you can easily make the tools yourself from some 1/8" or 3/16" steel. I was broke down in rural vermont once and made them with a borrowed cutting torch and a grinder.

[DieselNoob]

I've done it twice using the Autozone clutch fan removal tool. Pretty easy to do. When I did my flush I used Fleetrite ELC as well. Picked it up at the international dealer downtown. It takes quite a bit of time to flush it out but if you follow NCHornet's guide on flushing and Maintain's guide on replacing the waterpump you should easily be able to do it yourself.

[Dietoremain]

yeah its not hard as you think just give it a good whack. Btw fleetrite coolant is the best, not cheap but worth every single penny.
ELC coolant is needed in all 7.3's btw.

[RichardT]

so flushing the system is recommeded? Where did you all get the flush kit from Napa? I'm going to give it a shot. better than paying ford $110 hr. Pus parts. Only thing i haven't made my mind up on is the Water pump. Motorcraft Or Oreilly's????

[DieselNoob]

Airtex is the brand that is OEM. I got mine on ebay for pretty cheap 7.3 446 POWERSTROKE DIESEL WATER PUMP 97-03 F250 F350: eBay Motors (item 220634514781 end time Aug-07-10 14:44:55 PDT). Search for a post from NCHornet regarding the flush process. No need to get a "flush kit" from anywhere.

[RichardT]

I got it done. But you can pretty much wipe your but with the fan clutch removal tool. I used an air chisel, after struggling with the tool. Air chisel one hit and it was loose. it took me longer the set the compressor up. only other thing that took me a while is i had one stuck bolt. air chiselt the old pump off but now i'm one bolt short of it not being tight. i got it snugged up but i'll have to get to the ford place this afternoon. And of course my temp sensor broke. so i can't tell if its getting hot. i let it run for 30 min. turn on the heater and all doesn't smell like its getting hot. Drove it to work the morning carefully. seems ok no leaks. What is the possibly of hjaving air in the system ? thats what i worry about more than anything.

[melmount]

what direction do you turn the clutch fan nut? (standing in front of the truck)