Fan removal
 

As I was cleaning up parts of my engine today for its rebuild, I removed the cooling fan from the alternator. As an afterthought it occurred to me someone might like to see a pic or two of the process.

1. Remove bolt from fan pulley, pulloff spacers etc. Keep them in order.
2. Remove three nuts around alternator shaft
3. Place a 3 prong puller on the fan as shown, and rotate until the fan slides off the shaft.
4. Place hardware, in order back on the shaft, because 2 months from now when you get the fan back from being painted or powder coated you will wonder why there is 800 pieces for a simple fan and 2 pulleys.

Kirk
p.s. my garage is a wreck. I'll be happy when this porsche is in one piece again.

Cool - are you getting it powdercoated?

Marc
p.s. Nice heater. :)

funny; I spot the NICE calendar....

funny; I spot the ... doors open and its cold .

Marc,
I am trying to find some replacement engine tin, and then I will probably remove the brake calipers and get a whack of stuff powder coated in red & black. I am going to email that toronto wrecker you posted a link to and see what they can find for me. The heater made me happy all winter!

Tin in black, and upper valve covers, fan, calipers in red. I will have to order those porsche stickers that others have used successfully.

Hawk,
I like the calendar too!

Indy,
It wasn't cold. It was +3C/37F. :) And the varsol bath was smelly. So I wanted some air.

Kirk
I gotta get rid of some of these bikes. Too many of them clogging up my porsche area.

Kirk,
What a timely post! I have my altenator out and am currently trying to get my fan off the bearing so I can replace the fan bearing. I have a 2 prong puller and I cannot get the fan to budge. Im afraid to put more pressure on it than I have right now because it might break the fan, the fan metal is like pot metal. How much force did you need to get the fan off the shaft? I have let it soak with penetrating oil and under tension overnight to see if I could move it today. My next question is, if I can get the fan off, how do I get the fan bearing off the altenator shaft? There has to be a trick to this! If I can get the fan off Im going to paint it with red caliper paint.
Thanks for the help.
Craig C
91 Porsche C2
2004 Subaru WRX STI
98 Honda VTR 1000

Dang Kirk, I did mine yesterday before reading this.

One note though, be careful when removing the fan with a puller. The shaft is a 12 point hole, and if your pullen remover isn't the right size it can bugger up the threads.

Possibly a silly question, but here goes...

Do you HAVE to have a puller to get the fan out? For a month or so I've been meaning to remove mine (while changing the belts) to send it to the powdercoater , but I haven't done it yet. I'd like to have "my ducks in a row" for when I do remove it.

You need a puller to get that fan off. It is not on there extremely tight... the main issue is getting it to slide EVENLY off of that shaft. Only trouble might be in the case of corrosion.

I tried pounding on that sucker with a piece of wood as a buffer... all I got was wood chips. Did it for a long time. I have a puller... I'm just not that bright sometimes (especially when obsessed with getting something done). :D
It slipped right off with a 3 prong puller.

CraigC, that fan bearing is another story. I am pretty sure it is pressed in. Are you sure it is toast? Most common failure is the rear alt. bearing due to that long shaft and 1900s-style belt shimming technology. Easy to over tension belt if it is shimmed incorrectly.

My .02 cents.

Mark,
Im not sure it is the fan bearing but my fan is rubbing the inside of the cowl and leaving scrape marks. I can not get the alt. to slide out of the cowl either. is the rear alt. bearing something that can be replaced or do I have to buy a new/rebuilt alternator? Maybe I should do both bearing at the same time?
Thanks
Craig

Craig, I priced the alt. bearing and then priced a Bosch reman. alternator... to avoid all of the extra work I went with the Alternator. About $175.
That bearing is very likely not your problem AND that little guy is well over $100.

A quick test:
Remove the outside belt
Spin the alternator shaft
If the fan wobbles in the shroud your rear alternator bearing is bad.

There are some nice DIYs on replacing the alternator. Here is one: http://p-car.com/diy/alternator/alternator.html

Hope this helps

You can go down to Autozone and rent a puller for a fully refundable deposit of ~$40USD or do I like I did and just bring the whole thing into the store and remove the blade right there on the counter. :)

Thanks Mark,
I tried spinning the fan with the belts removed and it didnt contact the shroud or wobble around. I can feel just a very small amount of movement in the alt. shaft. Ive already bought the fan bearing from Sunset for ~$130. Now Im debating on replacing the alternator also. I cant get the alternator out of the shroud either. Is there a trick to getting it out? I hate to whack it really hard on the back end of the shaft with a hammer. Ill buy a 3 point puller tonight for ~$ 9 from Harbor Freight and try the fan with it.
Thanks,
Craig

When using a puller use a hard metal piece to protect the threads on the end of the alternator shaft. You can even use a socket if necessary. The fan sort of pops off a little at a time. The bearing is hard pressed onto the alternator shaft and a little tougher to get off.

Viperbob,
That is bad news! I cant even get my fan off, if the bearing is even tougher then it will be next to impossible. I placed a dented penny over the twelve point threads to protect them. I guess Ill let it soak a few more days with penetrating oil.
Craig