Dumb question time.

does the cooling fan blade have to be removed before you can remove the crank pulley.

read through the RAVE and it does not indicate that fan removal is a necessary step.

 

I did when I removed mine. Im pretty sure it does and you'll need the room ;-)

 

Yes. That's, Step One:
Remove the fan shroud (upper and lower) then, remove the fan blade.

Next, remove serpentine belt (Actually, you might want to leave this in place until your able to break the crank pulley bolt free - you'll need the added resistance).

Then, the crank pulley can be removed. I highly suggest using an impact gun to remove the crank pulley bolt.

 

Appreciate the responses.

I had to remove the fan assembly.

Just a PITA since I did not see any reference to its removal in the manual, had already loosened the crank bolt and removed the serpentine belt, did not have a 36mm Fan wrench in my possession, the closest Auto parts store is eight (8) miles away, and the D2 is currently my sole transportation.

Had to call in a ride - I am too lazy to make a sixteen (16) mile trek.

The wait gave me time to soak the fan nut with some penetrating oil, replace the rear drive shaft flex coupler, and prep the replacement steering center link and track bar since the originals had 179,000 miles on them and were in desperate need of replacement.

Originally started Saturday morning, but the fan delayed completion. Started again after breakfast Sunday morning and finished up everything (including putting the tools away) before lunch. Result!


A few noteworthy items:

The crank pulley bolt is 24mm.
The engine rotates Clockwise so the bolt must be turned Counterclockwise to loosen.

Removing the steering damper and center-link provides easier access from the bottom (mine needed to be replaced so they were going to be removed anyway)

I did not remove the lower fan shroud - just the top - pulled the fan out the top.

I did not have access to power/air tools so I used a closed end 24mm wrench on the bolt and a prybar in the transmission inspection hole wedged against one of the four bolt tabs to keep the engine from rotating.
My Torque wrench only goes up to 150 Ft-lbs - the manual says the crank bolt needs 200 ft-lbs. If using hand tools torque the snot out of the bolt when reassembling.

A lot of work to replace an $8.00 seal