i am having trouble getting the A/C belt on do i have to take that particular pulley off, i already took the tensioner pulley off. and how do i know what tension to put it at?

alternator belt will i have to take the alt. pulley off to be able to get that belt off? or is there another way.

and the longer of the 3 belts, i got it off no prob, and havent tried putting the new one on yet anything i should know. also what tension do i put this one at cause i dont have a tensioner tool, someone told me a 1/2 inch play but what do yall think?

Thanks
Dave

 

you will not need to take any pulleys or tensioners off.

if my memory serves me correctly, 3 belts are used. one runs from the crankshaft and turns the water pump and power steering, another runs from the crankshaft to the A/C compressor, and a smaller one runs from the A/C compressor to the alternator.

for the first two belts, there is a tensioner. I've had problems before. I had one sieze up on me and burn completely through the A/C compressor. without the compressor turning, the alternator won't turn. I realized that when I was driving along at night and everything went dim and the charge indicator light came on. the alternator belt is tensioned by pivoting the alternator.

but anyway, here's how the tensioners work. in the center of each is a loosening nut. then there's a long screw accessible elsewhere that moves the entire tensioner up or down the screw to tension the belt.

for the belt that runs around the water pump and power steering, this tensioner is near the bottom of the car. loosen the bolt in the middle and if I'm not mistaken, the adjusting screw is on the bottom and uses a 12mm socket (?).

for the belt that turns the A/C compressor, a REALLY long socket extension with a 10mm socket will be needed. loosen the bolt in the middle. the adjusting screw is kinda difficult to locate. because I no longer own a maxima, it's hard to describe where it is.

to tighten the alternator belt, loosen the top and bottom mounting bolts, then turn the long adjusting screw.

the exact tension is not important. get them nice and tight, but not TOO tight. the belts should deflect about 1/2" between the longest distance between the pulleys. be careful though, because one time I overtightened my alternator belt (in my blazer) and bent the rotor shaft inside the alternator, and it made a horrible squealing noise... then it died.

somewhere in this forum, I posted exact directions for changing belts. this was over the summer. but they ARE in here.

hope this helps!

Dan

 

Yeah hes right, they are tensioners. The one that runs the ac is called the idler pulley...well thats what my haynes manual says. Do what he says and youll be fine.

-Hector

 

ok i did all that, only thing im really worried about is the tension on all these.

Dave

 

I guess a good rule of thumb about tension on the belts, (dunno if anyone has heard this before) is that you should be able to twist the belt about 90 degrees, no more and no less. If you get it to about that much, you should have the right tension. The typical way is to check how much deflection you get, and I think that it's about an inch or so deflection, and everything should be fine. Someone care to fill in?

S

 

ok, i replaced everything i think i got the tension right, but when i started the car, the is some slight clicking noise, coming from the alternator, is it possible that i damaged something in the alternator when i jamed a screwdriver in it, to try and get the pulley off, only to find out later that i didnt have to take it off. the car seems to run good except for this ticking its not loud but it is aggravating. im thinking the little turbine looking thing may be broken what do yall think?

Dave

 

You jammed a screwdriver in your altenator? You could of goofed something up internally on the altenator. That could be why it's making noise. How is the charge looking?

S

 

well i didnt really jam it in, i just slide it in til it wouldnt go any more. then when trying to get the pulley off the screwdriver wasnt holding it, so whatever stopped the driver from going in more just got scraped up. i could prolly post pics, the charge seems to be okay, i havent driven it yet, just back and forth in my yard. should i take apart the alternator and see what i actually damaged? or could the tension not be right? i tried tightening and loosening but still same noise.

Dave

 

there's a good chance you nicked or damaged something inside, probably the armature shaft or a field coil winding.

I wouldn't try disassembling a nissan alternator. I've rebuilt a few alternators, but none of these. it can be done but it's better to know what you're doing. I read that you need to heat up the rear of the casing to get the bearing to let go.

when you go to put it back together, you'll need to slide a paper clip or piece of stiff wire in through the rear frame to hold the brushes in, then attach the halves together.

make sure it is charging though, otherwise you'll be stranded alongside the road with a dead battery. here's how you can check it.

(1) turn the ignition on without cranking the engine. the charge indicator light (a red battery symbol) MUST come on. if it doesn't, the alternator is bad and NEEDS to be replaced.

start the engine. the charge indicator light should go out, and the voltmeter must read between 13 and 15. no more, no less. if it's less, it's not charging. if it's more, the voltage regulator is toasted, and you'll have numerous electrical problems.