Been off line, out of town.
Mr. 86Humv is Right. I figured the guys wouldn't be able to get at the nose piece with the fan / shroud in the way. Too much work.
Should have stated it better for the clever ones.
I was clear as where to tap. The tap and wack is a controlled wack. More on the side of tap, but didn't want to sound lady boy for the rednecks or offend the BLM gang looking to tear stuff up. Big Lazy Mechanics.
And as stated over and over and over... there are NO dumb questions (OK sometimes) BUT to filter the dumb ones out, get the picture book "TM" study the exploded views...before you explode the parts you'er working on or trying to explain. You can read the TM's cover to cover, But I would say you need to talk to a doctor about that constipation and just get back to wrenching.
Back to the ongoing fan tricks. With 90 PSI +/- to the clutch and fan is still locked-up ( hasn't or isn't blowing ATF and air out) see you can work it free by rotating it a little clockwise - then a little counter-clock
wize (easy big boy's) don't WANT to snap any old brittle blades off.
I too had a hate relation with this cooling system. (got a big one for the smart box) After getting a feel for the goings on, IMO it's no better or worst than any other, unless you have gear driven one. Thought about flex fan, electrics, viscous fluid and circled right back to factory. Biggest issue a little brain work and understanding. Add in a dirty OLD neglected coolant system that could be throwing off the logic to keep it factory.
Now if the hood's in the corner and one is hot to tear into the cooling stack IMO no need to stop there. This exposes a lot to check and piece of mind parts ie: hoses, pumps, idlers, coolers, radiator and the crutch to work on easy...er. Good time to check out the dif and brakes too. Dig a little deeper IP timing parts.
Going for new never ends, CAMO
If these types of problems are showing up look back at any of the threads showing cooling, running hot, temp gauge, fan, overheating, etc.