Horribly Seized Bolts on Fan Clutch

Currently doing my timing belt on my new to me 2000 Tundra AC and ran into an issue with the fan clutch. First time doing this job. I tried taking it off the studs while they were still on the engine block to no avail, so I took off everything I could to continue the timing belt job, sprayed the bolts with PB Blaster and let it soak for a day. I eventually got the fan bracket out since it was necessary.

After that I thought I’d be easy peezy, I got a torch, two vice grips and more PB Blaster. Plan was to spray it down, heat it up, let it cool and go ham with both vice grips. You’d think that would work? Nope! Didn’t even budge once on any of the bolts no matter what I did.




I was going to replace the bolts after I got them off anyways since I knew they weren’t going to be salvageable, but looks like I’m all out of ideas. Any advice from here on out?

 

Wow. You gave that a proper mangling.

 

NO SHIT!

I actually broke a pair of vice grips when squeezing one of the bolts. Unreal how seized the bolts are. The rest of the job has been pretty smooth aside from he AC Compressor bracket screw being striped and seized, but took me about 15 minutes to figure out

 

If all else fails, try pouring some Coke or any other carbonated drink on them. Sometimes the acid from the drink will loosen them up. Great for corroded battery terminals too

 

Angle grinder with a cutoff wheel then replace the pulley assembly and fan clutch nuts.

 

Here’s a thread you could look through for tips…I feel your pain since I’ll be doing this myself in the near future.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/fan-clutch-removal-tips-timing-belt-replacement.134981/

 

Should have used kroil,pb blaster is junk, then heat if needed....

 

I got a dremel, so I’m going to try that in a second once I eat dinner if I have a cutting bit. The bolts aren’t salvageable anymore so i just need to get them off.

if I really wanted to, I could just put the bracket back on since I know it isn’t going anywhere but nah, I want it in full mechanical order for future easy maintenance.

 

well it is compared to kroil...

 

Kroil smells like licorice

 

Use a file and try to grind flat spots on the nuts again. Try to heat the nuts up with a torch, then have at it again with the vice grips. Or, try a nut splitter.

 

Got no dremel bit, gonna try it out tomorrow!

 

I think you're going to need something a little bigger than a Dremel. You'll never be able to get a flat, straight cut with such a small tool. You're going to want to be careful not to damage the fan clutch flange.

 

licorice is yummy, but only the black

 

You’re probably right. I completely forgot they’re bolts and not nuts, so I need to use something bigger. I should have an angle grinder lying around, but no vice to hold it in place. I’ll have to ask a neighbor or something

 

You have stripped nuts, not bolt heads. The fan pulley bracket has studs that stick off it.





Have a look at this tutorial on a nut splitter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb_lFOCU6IU

 

Gold. Gonna pick one up tomorrow along with the 22mm impact gun socket I need to do the timing belt tensioner

 

Wouldn’t it be easier to just cut the nuts off and replace the studs or are those included with the fan bracket part?

 

The studs are pressed into the OEM fan pulley bracket I believe. I don't think Toyota sells just the studs, but I'm sure someone motivated can get around that.

The threads on OP's fan bracket studs should still be fine though, so long as he doesn't damage them with a nut splitter or whatever else is used to cut the damaged nuts off.

 

Proactively replace it all. Two more things you don't need to worry about for the next 15-20 years. All the time you have invested thus far, how much is that worth to you in $$$ amount?

To be fair, PBB smells like what drizzled out of the ass of a gas pump after it got sexually assaulted by a train of Monster energy drinks.

(But it still works better than Kroil, especially at dissolving old crusty grease)

 

Bolt induction heater on Amazon.

 

Make sure to use 6 point wrenches and sockets next time. They’re way less prone to rounding off the heads.

My replacement water pump came with new studs but no nuts.

 

Yeah going for the nut splitter approach and then going from there. If the studs get damaged I'll have to get a new fan bracket, but oh well. For the price I got the truck for, I'm more than okay getting some new parts for it so I don't have to worry about it for 15-20 years like @shifty` said.

 

That was what I did at first, but that's what initially stripped the bolts and led me down the path to using vice grips instead. I had two 6-point wrenches in a V shape and pressed in between them to try and get them off, but it ended up just rounding out the bolt. You can't fit a socket in their either. There's less than 2 inches of clearance which makes it impossible to get a socket in there, even a low profile one.

 

This would actually be a good candidate for the bolt induction heater as @vtl suggested. Just need to potentially size up with a slightly larger wrench when the nut expands. Good cause for having an SAE set on standby in case it runs between metric sizes.

The nut splitter and potentially replacing the fan bracket may be cheaper in the short term though.

 

what kind of garbage wrenches are you using?? Lol jk

I thought the nuts on my headers/down pipe were bad.

 

I guess bad ones

 

lol maybe homie! My craftsman have very little wiggle (if any at all) when I'm wrenching. I can't stand a wrench that doesn't really bite on to the bolt/nut. Those are in my trucks tool bag.

 

I had the same problem a few months ago. I tried everything suggested short of the bolt induction heater and finally resorted to cutting the nuts off with an angle grinder. I didn't have to hold it in a vice. The angle grinder with a 4" cutting wheel was enough to get between the pulley and the clutch. The clutch was ground up a bit but I was replacing it and the pulley holder anyway.

The timing belt had been changed previously so I figure the mechanic overtightened these nuts to an extreme degree. Interestingly, all the other fasteners were not overtightened so that was good news.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/fan-clutch-removal-tips-timing-belt-replacement.134981/