Surprised not to find threads on this!

Centre bolt removed ok, and - following Citroen Net instructions - have inserted steel bar into the middle and hammered it repeatedly in every direction. It hasn't shifted yet, and it feels like such a violent thing to do...

So, any other tips other than removing the plastic fan blades (just what kind of elongated/bent fingers do you need to have for this...) and using heat?

Cheers.

You don't need to hammer it, you don't need to remove the fan and you definitely don't need heat.

There is a knack to it. The fan hub is on a taper. You put a piece of pipe or bar into the hole from where you've removed the 14mm headed nut which is smaller in diameter than said hole. You then simply rattle it around violently (by hand), and as if by magic the fan will pop of its taper without any real effort at all. It flexes the hub just enough for it to pop loose.

1/2" socket extensions tend to fit about right.

Then, when you put it back together again, a smear of copaslip on the taper, and it'll just fall off next time.

True enough, but the whole point of fitting something with a taper is that it is held by friction. If you introduce lubricant or anti seize into the equation, it kind of defeats the original design.

I find an old kingpin inserted into the fan boss and a sharp tap with a hammer works.
Contrary to Citroens advice ......I've never fubard the bearings [in 36 years & 100's of 1000 miles of 2CV'ing] .....although I did break the darned thing [once].
You aint hitting it hard enough ....

T.

As long as the bolt is tightened up to the recommended torque and the lock washer is in place, greasing the taper has never resulted in the fan pulley working loose on any engines I've serviced.
Quite a few of those were race engines and even the fairly savage changes in engine rpm which are involved in that lark didn't result in anything breaking free.

On the other hand, wish I could have got my hands on the clowns who decided to use Loctite on both the taper and the bolt thread when installing 123 ignition.
It took about 3 hours to separate that bodge...

ken

As already mentioned... an old king pin, and a sharp tap with a hammer (sideways & up/down)has never failed me. Sometimes I've used copagrease on the taper, mostly never used anything.
Summat's up if it's not shifting.

I know Viking sells a neat tool for this, although I personally have no qualms knocking seven shades of shit out of a bit of solid bar in the fan hub. I find it's only fans that've been on for years that are a bastard to get off. I do tend to wipe the oil on. The dipstick onto the crankshaft before I put the fan back though.

Yes Russ. This eliminates all knocking forever.





This is caused by a small crack working around the hub. Some will reject this claim.



If you are lucky, the spinding out of control fan will not cut your oil cooler pipes.

Thanks folks - I'll keep on at it.

This will be the first time the fan's been removed in 19 years...

I will definitely be using Copper-Slip on replacement, as I do on almost every bolt I refit. This won't prevent the taper from doing its job; by the time it has been tightened up, there will only be a microscopic layer left between the mating surfaces, but this should be enough to prevent them sticking due to surface corrosion or 'welding'. (I'll never forget the mech eng lecturer slipping two perfect steel surfaces together by hand - and them sticking. He explained they were technically 'welded' together at molecular level!)

In a similar way, adding Copper-Slip to battery terminals doesn't stop the current flowing!

Thanks, all.