How to Remove the Fan from a 1999 GMC Safari

The accessory belts drive the radiator fan in your Safari. Although rarely damaged, replacing engine components like your Safari's water pump requires you to remove the radiator fan. One of the most common signs of a defective radiator fan in your van is the smell of hot coolant. Left unrepaired a faulty radiator fan will eventually cause mechanical failure resulting from improper cooling of the engine. With a few tools, you can remove and install a new radiator fan in your 1999 GMC Safari right at home. From start to finish, the task should take you 35 to 40 minutes.

Instructions

1

Raise and support the hood on your 99 Safari. Disconnect the negative battery cable with the socket wrench.

2

Wrap black electrical tape around the metal terminal at the very end of the cable. This will prevent the cable from contacting other metal or accidentally reconnecting to it post.

3

Remove the bolts from the radiator fan shroud with your socket wrench. Lift the shroud out of the engine compartment and set it on the ground just beneath the front end. The radiator fan shroud is the black, curved piece of trim that mounts over the fan's blades. It attaches with bolts along the front lip of the engine compartment.

4

Locate the water pump pulley at the rear of the radiator fan blades. The pulley looks like a round metal disk.

5

Remove the four bolts from the pulley that secure the radiator fan to the front of it with a fan clutch wrench. The radiator fan blades are sharp. Before you remove the final bolt that secures the fan, support the fan with one hand. This will prevent it from dropping and possibly cutting the accessory belts or other wires in the engine compartment.

6

Lift the radiator fan out of your Safari and set it down on a flat working space. As you look at the radiator fan, you will notice that it has another component attached to it as well. This is your radiator fan clutch.

7

Remove the radiator fan clutch from the fan blades with your socket wrench. Flip the fan over so that the clutch faces down. Remove the four bolts at the center of the fan blades. Pull the fan clutch away from the blades to free them. To reinstall your new fan blades reverse this entire procedure.