Citroën Repairs Manual

Do It Yourself

Instructions for basic repairs and maintenance for A-types

Removing the fan

You'll need to extract the fan if you have to adjust the ignition point, remove the oil cooler, or if the fan itself is damaged. Fan itself is bolted to the pulley on the front end of the crankshaft, so to remove the fan in fact means to remove this pulley. This job can be done in following way:

Dyane and Ami: remove the grille (Dyane) or sheet panel with a grille between front wings (Ami)
remove the wire net in front of the fan
prevent the crankshaft from turning, for example by putting a screwdriver between the housing and the tooth of the flywheel
(gearbox should be in 1st or reverse and manual brake activated)
now you'll need a narrow and long 14 mm socket wrench, to unscrew the fan retaining bolt (located in the center of the fan)
insert some massive stick into the hole in the center; the diameter of the stick should be chosen to best fit the hole (about 15-20 mm); starting handle can also be used (see figure 1)

Figure 1: strike it hard!

Figure 2: 1- crankshaft, 2- pulley, 3- fan

now strike the stick (or starting handle) with the hammer and don't be afraid - harder you strike, easier you'll do the job! Explanation for this is that the fan is fixed to the crankshaft by the friction connection, and the bolt that you unscrewed the first has purpose only to insure the friction (see figure 2).

I was told that crankshaft could be damaged through this hamer-blowing. I believe, still, that dynamic load on the crankshaft during engine operation should be more, more bigger than a hammer blow. On the other hand, this blow goes to the crankshaft free end - it is just not the same. But I've seen people with 30-40 years of 2cv experience doing this with hammer. I'd be glad to hear your opinnion or experience?
alternative way (without hammer): insert starting handle into pulley clips and try to free fan by sudennly aplying strong force (i.e. torque!) to the handle (like when one tries to start the engine with the starting handle). this way one certainly avoids the risk of crankshaft damaging, but I'm not sure that fan removing will always be succesfull.

that was it!
to install the fan, put it in its place and tighten the retaining bolt with 4-5 daNm tightening torque; before installing pay attention for electric wires behind the fan. Don't put any grease onto conical end of the crankshaft!

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