Want to return to OEM cooling fans...

Wasn't sure if this belonged in the OEM or Modified tech... anyway, here's the situation: I bought my XJ in January and the previous owner had installed a dual electric fan in place of the OEM cooling fans. They are only 10" fans and once summer hit, I found them to be inadequate to handle the heat. Apparently, he cut-down the bolts that hold the clutch fan in place to provide clearance for the electric fans. I have the original fans and shrouds, but no diagram of the parts showing what I need to get things back to normal. What I need to know is, how hard is it to replace these bolts? Can they be replaced or do I have to put in a whole new pulley? How hard is it to remove the pulley? Am I screwed?

Thanks

I would just get a new fan clutch pulley assembly at the dealership or junkyard. Its this whole enchilada that includes the bracket where your AC compressor is mounted. Or you could take it off and replace the studs for suitably longer ones. At least I think it uses studs.

You are NOT screwed.
I tried the electric fan thing and cut off the studs.
You can get replacement studs, and i got nuts too, and just replace them.
If you do not have them, get NEW clutch and fan and install.
Not too hard or big of a deal.

XJ4PLAY said:

You are NOT screwed.
I tried the electric fan thing and cut off the studs.
You can get replacement studs, and i got nuts too, and just replace them.
If you do not have them, get NEW clutch and fan and install.
Not too hard or big of a deal.

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That's good news! How hard was it to replace the studs? Did you have to remove the AC bracket to do it? I'm assuming that I'll have to get them from a dealership. Were they cheap? Only asking since I'm on a very tight budget (wife says I've spent too much on my junk this year).
Thanks!

you can get generic studs at the hardware store, unscrew them with vise grips or something,, then install the new ones (not vise grips) and be careful not to grab the threads with anything that will hurt them.
They make a tool for studs, but I doubt you will want to buy one.

creeperjeep said:

you can get generic studs at the hardware store, unscrew them with vise grips or something,, then install the new ones (not vise grips) and be careful not to grab the threads with anything that will hurt them.
They make a tool for studs, but I doubt you will want to buy one.

Click to expand...

Ok, that's good to know. Now one last question, maybe a stupid one but I want to make sure I know exactly what I'm doing before I clamp down on these things with the vice grips... do the studs unscrew out the front or are they more like bolts that go in from the back of the bearing hub?

Thanks

They are just studs with threads on both ends, take two nuts and lock them together then use the bottom jam nut to back the stud out, should come right out unless they were locktited or something in which case you might want to stick the hub in a bench vise or get a BIG set of channel locks, I bought one big honken set of sears channel locks to remove and reinstall a 6" diameter muffler on my wheel horse lawn tractor. One word of advice, put the factory fan shroud back in, not installed, you want to be able to move it back and forth, then put the fan back on and install the shroud. On my shroud I broke the bottom part off but left the two tabs on so my shroud is like an upside down U now and slips off easily..

Thanks to everyone for the info and advice. Got the old studs out and new ones in ($2/ea. at OSH). I also replaced the fan clutch. I now have a happy and functional OEM cooling system again! This task is definately not the friend of those of us with large hands. Would have been much easier to do with the front clip and radiator out.

I too have big hands and it helps if you loosen up the upper radiator mount nuts.That way the radiator can be moved a little bit so you have more room.

no locktite on them. From what I remember I removed the nuts, still there to hold pulley, and then removed the pulley, belt was off of course. There is an area on the studs, from the dealer, with no threads. I assume for this purpose.

stealership p/n 6034860 @ $1.50 each screws for impeller x 4
154591 @ $2.00 each nut and washer x 4
J4006714 @$3.45 each stud x 4