E30 fan clutch (how to)

[tire 10]

So the temp gauge on the e30 starts creeping up a bit after a few sets of traffic lights. It sits dead on halfway when cruising so I'm pretty sure its the fan clutch.

I picked up a decent looking one the other day off a mate. I can't find any links and I'm on my 7th page of bs search results with no luck so can someone link me to a guide as to how to replace it?

Oh and how hard is it to replace? Doable in a couple of hours after work?

Oh oh and what alternatives are there to using the special bmw 30something mm spanner to undo the big nut thing?

Cheers.

[antil33t 90]

*i think* we used a pair of slip-jaws on the bolt, and a screwdriver to hold the fan stationary.

Rember, It's reverse thread so lefty-tighty righty-loosy.

Probably wouldn't be that hard to replace once you get the radiator out. Mine was removed with the engine out the car.

[Slavvy 0]

Ive found the best way is a skinny monkey wrench or whatever else happens to fit in there, and then just whack the end with a hammer. I've never needed to hold anything still/jam anything up since after a few good whacks the shock undoes it on it's own.

I've also gotten into the habit of sticking some wheel bearing grease on the threads when I install the new one so it never bakes in and always comes out on the first try.

[QuickSilver 0]

Clutch fan is a 5 minute job. Slap on an adjustable wrench, useless for just about everything except this. Give it a tight wack in the CORRECT direction, unscrew. Replace, tighten. Done.

Edited December 29, 2009 by QuickSilver

[e30ftw 396]

32mm bike headset wrench is perfect for this.. The gap requires a thin wrench to fit in there and hold the bolt..

[tire 10]

Had to remove those 10mm bolts waterpump side to fit the justy wrench in but yea, pretty easy job. Shame the replacement is buggered too..

[antil33t 90]

after further reading, the only reason why I had to hold it is because We had allready gone and disconnected the belts...