I think so on the fan, but not the pulley. You can just leave the fan in the shroud, sitting on the core support, but it is in the way. A couple of the bolts you need to get to are right by the edge of the fan, IIRC. I also replaced my oil filter housing seal at the same time, so I don't remember exactly if I truly needed to take the clutch fan off for the alt or just the filter housing (which required taking the alt off).

It really is easy to get that off. You just need a big wrench that fits on that nut, and a screwdriver. It is reverse threaded, so you wedge your screwdriver between two of the bolts that hold the pulley on and pop the big fan clutch nut the other way. It spins right off. Make sure you put a little anti-seize on it when you reinstall so it will be easy to get off next time around also.

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2001 E53 3.0 5pd