Mine was stuck fast. I needed to replace the radiator, so it had to come off. I tried the "leave the belt on, put a wrench on it and hit it with a hammer" technique. I even put a wrench on the tensioner and cranked the tension up, still no dice. Then I rented the kit from Advance Auto, but it didn't even have a correct wrench for my fan clutch. I returned the kit, and went to my local Harbor Freight wonderland. I bought a rubber-style band clamp, and a vice grip style chain band clamp as a last resort.

The rubber one: http://www.harborfreight.com/2-pc-ru...set-69373.html

The chain one: http://www.harborfreight.com/locking...amp-36813.html

I got home and tried the rubber one. The fan clutch nut simply laughed at it, and the clamp will never be the same again. So, I set the locking chain clamp on it and tightened as best I could. I placed a small block of wood on the harmonic balancer and rested the handle on that. I then set my pipe wrench on the nut. I pulled, to no avail. So, I started tapping the pipe wrench with a hammer; the pulley started turning inside the clamp! I turned to whaling on the pipe wrench handle, The pulley just kept spinning.

That's when I had an idea. I took a bicycle inner tube, and cut it about 24" long. I also grabbed a very large rubber band from a set I bought at the dollar store. First I had to snake the rubber band around the fan blades until it was resting on the clutch nut. I then wrapped the pulley with the inner tube, and held it in place with the rubber band. I set the chain clamp on the inner tube and again tightened as best I could. Then, I set the pipe wrench on the nut again. After two or three blows of the hammer, it was free!

I did scratch the pulley from the first attempt with the chain clamp. I knew it would happen, but as they say, desperate times... I smoothed it out with a surfacing disk. Time will tell if the belt is hurt by this. I just wish I had thought of the inner tube first. Good luck!

 

air hammer and a long air hammer chisel bit gets them off in seconds; one chisel fits all. leaves a small groove on the nut but no damage.

 

If you have a local O'Reilly Auto parts, they have the proper tools for rent. I've gone that route and it saves a lot of time and aggravation.

 

Lisle makes a pulley wrench that works well.

 

That's what we've done for years. Get yourself some rusty penetrant and hose it down first.




Also works great getting O2 sensors to start....if you have enough room.

 

Thanks everyone! I had several problems with your answers, though. First, I'm not lucky enough to have an air compressor. Second, I called Auto Zone, O'Reilleys, and NAPA, after the first kit from Advance Auto. They all said they had nothing for me. And the soonest I could have a pin spanner wrench was Tuesday through Grainer; this was Saturday, and I needed my truck back immediately. I desperately searched and Googled, but I couldn't find a solution for my lack of resources. Just thought I would pass it along....

 

All you need is a big crescent wrench from Harbor Freight and a hammer and they come off easy with quick straight hits.

 

Well then, in that case you had to make due, so your solution is fitting.

 

I say nice work!

We've all been there. And many times, you just can't wait. Chances are, if you smoothed the pulley, you'll probably never see any problems.

If you do, pulleys and belts are cheap compared to missing the work you probably had to get back to.