E30 Zone

I need a 35mm spanner to undo my fan nut but cant find anywhere that sells em.. Anyone recommend anywhere?

Also, best way to get the fan nut undone? Engine is out the car on a stand

pretty sure its a 32mm nut

what i do is loosen 2 of the pulley nuts and put a small spanner on 1 of the nuts then rest it against the other this stops it all turning then either a 32mm spanner or a thin pair of decent grips to loosen the fan nut
dnt forget its left handed thread

hth

Daz

£6.99 Viscous fan spanner from GFS, does the jo brilliantly.
Put the spanner on, grip the pulley with an old fan belt and mole grips. then whack the spanner with a hammer, to shock it free. I didn't believe this would work, it may take a couple of goes but it does work.

And I may be teaching my grandma to suck eggs but remember it goes the wrong way! Left hand thread.

I use a long cold chisel and a hammer, fast , cheap and very effective, for anything :Lol:

Crank / Pedal combi spanner from a bicycle shop is what I use.

Ant wrote:I use a long cold chisel and a hammer, fast , cheap and very effective, for anything :Lol:

could give that ago i guess.. dont need the nut afterwards

Ant wrote:I use a long cold chisel and a hammer, fast , cheap and very effective, for anything :Lol:

Indeed fast cheap and effective.. Job jobbed

Draper sell the spanner for BMW fans, costs roughly £4.95 from most tool shops. Alternatively unbolt the fan pulley, then unbolt the water pump which removes the fan (M40) and work on a bench to remove the fan from the clutch.

Ant wrote:I use a long cold chisel and a hammer, fast , cheap and very effective, for anything :Lol:

haha butcher

32mm spanner and a hammer is all you need might take a fair hit if its been on a while. only thing is some spanners are too thick to fit in the gap.

I always use the chisel dude, its 360mm long and rather useful for getting where spanners cant, sound like a bodge ?? well, lemme tell you that by striking a sharp blow to the "corner" of the nut the viscous is off 1st time everytime,

those spanners are useful but I've seen a few used on M50/52 and the guys missed with the hammer and destroyed the thermostat housing

I'll stick with my old faithful

TBH mate if your going to miss a spanner with a hammer you'll probably miss a chisel as well. I've never had any problems with my fan spanner, works every time.

I've seen a few old water pumps crumble to pieces when removed so whacking it with anything could turn out costly.

If your spending money on spanners get a big adjustable (they have more than one use) just make sure the jaws are not too wide.
The old belt and mole grips work's best for me to hold the pully still.

Ant wrote:I always use the chisel dude, its 360mm long and rather useful for getting where spanners cant, sound like a bodge ?? well, lemme tell you that by striking a sharp blow to the "corner" of the nut the viscous is off 1st time everytime,

those spanners are useful but I've seen a few used on M50/52 and the guys missed with the hammer and destroyed the thermostat housing

I'll stick with my old faithful

and i'll second that

This is why I use the aforementiuoned bike spanner - crank end on the fan bolt, some kind of drift notched into the pedal end. Nothing slips off anywhere except the fan nut.

I got a spanner at Halfords - in the blue/white packaging. Did the job fine - still needed a good thwack with a hammer and an old fan belt and mole wrench as i'd taken that alternator off the engine!

I've seen and used ANTS technique and it really is that easy

I also found that a large adjustable spanner will just about reach.....
Just don't lay the fan flat, it kills the viscous.

HTH, Mark.

Once you have the viscous fan removed is there a BMW part for blanking the thread? (for people planning to run no fan and wanting a factory-deleted fan look to the engine bay). I'm sure I've seen this on someone's car. Perhaps it was just a large nut.

I'm fitting an S50 and need to get rid of the fan...

Jai

I think i will deffo have to post pictures of my water pump after a beating from a hammer, centre punch, and my dad's determination!

the nut is 32mm, spanner we got from screwfix.com, but pump was completely knackered so couldnt get the nut off!

fan + pump are literally in pieces but at least ive got the pulley i wanted now!