Fan center bolt backed out, I'm betting it's not as simple as just bolting it back in. Options

[Mikey914]

I'm letting the boy work on this as it's his car and he should be able to turn a wrench.

The car overheated and he didn't know why. So we figured it was an obstructed oil cooler, or flaps may have been closed. After poking around and checking he found the fan has come loose. From what I can see with a mirror the center bolt has backed out and is MIA. Along with missing center washer.

What should I be looking at here?

[rnellums]

This happened to me on a road trip in my old black car. There is a woodruff key on the crankshaft also that prevents the fan from spinning. On mine that had sheared off, and it also scored the keyway on the crank that it fit into pretty badly. I ended up having to drop the engine and pull the fan housing off to properly analyze and repair the damage. If the key didn't shear it might be as simple as replacing the key and re-assembling. If the key did shear it probably damaged the keyway in the crank, and to properly repair it you'll have to replace the crank. I ended up sanding the scored bits flat, inserting a new key, and re-assembling with JB Weld. It got me home. When you bolt it back together, make sure it bolts on flat into the taper, if there is wobble on the fan it won't hold together long.

-Ross