James: I believe the Fan Clutch in my 98 Chevy S10 is faulty because the fan is very loose and noisy. I took out the fan shroud, unscrewed the blade and Fan Clutch and released the special spring from notch (I am not sure that I am using right term or not) that sits front of Fan Clutch. I just do not know how to get it out. I can not get the answer from library books. Could you give me some hints? Thank you very much! Jimmy W Hyattsville, MD

Jimmy, the “special spring” is the part of the fan clutch you should not be fooling with! This is the bi-metal spring that expands when the radiator gets hot to engage the fan clutch. The fan clutch is only supposed to work when you are sitting still and the engine is hot. A lot of aftermarket fan clutches are noisy all the time. I don't recommend you using them because they affect gas mileage negatively and are very noisy. They will make your car or truck sound like a jet coming in for a landing when you take off from a red light. Contact the Chevy dealer in your area and buy the original equipment fan clutch only! Once you see what the new one looks like then my answer below will seem a lot clearer. Most fan clutches on the newer model Chevy S-10 are threaded on the front of the water pump with right hand threads. To remove the fan clutch from the water pump you need a big wrench or an adjustable wrench that will open up to turn the big nut on the fan clutch attached to the water pump. You may need a really LARGE pair of adjustable slip joint pliers to hold the water pump pulley when you try to take it off so it won’t slip. A lot of times just leaving the serpentine belt on while you are loosing the fan clutch will hold the pulley in place. The threads are NOT left handed on most Chevrolet fan clutches. If you had a Ford you would have to turn clockwise to remove the fan clutch from the water pump. On a Chevy it is "righty tighty, lefty loosee" for removal of the fan clutch. Thanks for your question! P.S. If would recommend if you are going to work on your vehicle to get the right information from ALLDATA, on line. For less than $25.00 you can get a year subscription to look up any question you may have on your truck. It is the same information I use at my shop to fix any car we get in. Just go to www.alldata.com. James Thanks for your question!

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