Do you think if I was using an OEM belt I would not have this problem?

 

You need to both have and keep the RH side of that belt going down to the crank pulley straight and tight - you have too much slack there in that pic and that is why things are not aligning - follow the FSM religiously else you gonna have disasters happening. OEM is not going to help - this is a maintenance technique issue

 

Yes I understand what you mean by the slack...the reason there's slack in that previous picture was because I just left the belt hanging loose while i was taking the picture.

Here's a picture where I am actually pulling on the belt so there is no slack at all. But I still can't get the belt line to fit onto the correct gear. It's as if the belt is half a tooth off....(I counted all the teeth TWICE, its there's 133 teeth).

By the way, with all this belt pulling and massaging, I managed to turn the cam sprockets about 1 or 2 millimeters...

Did anyone ever have any problems remotely similar to mine? Because if the new belt is supposed to just slip onto the sprockets without much stretching, then there is something definitely wrong with what I am doing...there is no way the new belt that I have is going to just slip on the the sprockets. I compared the new belt to the old belt, and there was the same number of teeth....but the older belt seemed somewhat "looser"...I am guessing that was just from being stretched out all these years?

 

IMO your belt is still slack on the RH side even though you are pulling on it - ................

Anyway - rotate the crank sprocket by about 5% anti-clockwise - try to fit the belt and then turn the crank pulley clockwise by 5 % after you "hooked" the belt .................... there just is no other way if you cannot keep enough tension on the RH side of the belt.

The cams rotating by 1 or 2 mm is not a disaster - get the belt on all 3 pulleys and then move them as required to make all 6 marks align properly and simultaneously - you cannot damage anything if any mark is less than about 10mm off - just don't rotate the whole motor together until you have all the marks aligned properly with the belt tensioned properly.

 

Ok thanks for the tip LvR...I'll try that tomorrow morning..I'm just too frustrated right now to go back into my garage lol

 

I have done this job several times with min troubles, however its good that your cautious, here is a few thoughts. When I bought my last two belts from Rockauto.com (Gates brand) I found that the white marks on the belt were nowhere near the timming marks on my car. It was like it was marked for a diff engine. More importaint then the marks on the belt is the number of teeth between each mark. I dont have my book here at work but I do know the Chiltons book tells you how many teeth there should be between the front cam pully mark to the lower crank mark and from the front cam pully mark and the rear cam pully mark. I went with that and the lines on the belt were off, but it worked out fine. Also to align the marks up correctly I found that I had to turn the rear cam pully from its relaxed position just a little bit counterclockwise. So it was easier to leave the tentioner off , align the crank mark first then the front cam mark then adjust the rear cam and set it. Then count the teeth in between each mark, then count them again. Then you can put your tensioner back on. If you dont have a book to get those numbers I will look at mine tonight and check back with you tomorrow.

 

This is fairly common as the old belt has stretch out over the years, so don't worry. You will just need to put the bolt back on the crank and turn it a little till the belt goes on with the line in the right place.

 

Thanks for the tips everyone! I was able to get the belt installed on the correct punch marks by turning the crank sprocket ever so slightly counter clockwise. I also got the tensioner on...will take some pics tonight after I get back home from a rendevous

 

Ok here's a video of the timing belt installed...and I am testing the tension on it. What do you think? Too tight or too loose?

 

Question about the feeler gauge.

In the FSM it says to insert the feeler gauge between the tensioner and the belt, and then to tighten the tensioner bolt. This method is supposed to set the correct tension right? But I noticed that the feeler gauge can be inserted snuggley between the tensioner and belt even at different points of tightening the tensioner. I have the hex socket on the tensioner at 5:30...but even at 5 or 6, the feeler gauge is still snug. Am I doing something wrong?

 

Have you not downloaded a PDF version of the FSM yet? It sounds like you are not able to picture exactly how to use the feeler gauge in this procedure. The picture in the FSM makes it very clear. Have someone send you a digital copy of the FSM for future reference and in the mean time I will scan the picture for you and post it up. If I can find a copy of the PDF FSM I will send you that as well, but I prefer the physical FSM book personally.

As for the video, there is really no way for us to tell if the belt is tight enough without a ruler and assurance that you are only applying 10lbs (I think that's whats required) of force.

 

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/maxima/1994/

 

ok thanks for the link to the FSM...I think I got the tension correct now.

Question, which way does the little key fit onto the crank? It fell out and I am not sure if it is supposed to round side up or flat side up.

 

Flat side up. Crank pulley would not go in if the other way.

 

Ok thanks...I should have everything ready to go by tomorrow evening or Saturday I will let you guys know how it goes

 

Just did this job on my Max. Also installed Unorthodox pulley while I was at it. Let me know if you need any pointers.

 

Hey guys thanks for all your help!

I finally put everything together and took it for a test drive this afternoon...smooth as butter...no weird noises, so I am assuming I got the tension correct on all the belts. Thanks again!

Tampamaximus, how much did that pulley cost?

 

Good to hear its running smooth. Ya it was a big relief when I turned mine over after I finished and knew it was fine. The pulley I have had for several years I think I bought it for 150 or so. It came with the different sized belts for the diameter adjustment.

 

I drove the car hard all day today for the first time since the the belt change...ran so smooth. I am actually surprised nothing has gone wrong being that I am not a very mechanically inclined person and this was my first time doing a tbelt change.

 

Mine was rusted on pretty good and no non-destructive method would get the damn thing off of there (I tried for 3 days). I didn't end up cutting it though, instead I drilled & tapped the gear, then used a harmonic balancer puller to get it off. It was surprisingly quick and easy to do, and the only dodgy part was jamming a huge screwdriver into the flywheel to keep the crank from rotating.

Pics: http://imgur.com/a/71l7x#0

 

Well just wanted to give you guys an update:

It's been 7 months since I did the change. It's not my daily driver, but I have but about 6,000 miles on it though. Everything seems good

 

Hey I am still here...car is still running well. I use it as a reliable backup car. But there is now a tiny hole in the radiator. Looks like it will need replacing.

 

If you're at that point of disassembly then yes, you can use the crank pulley to find TDC with the #1 cylinder being on it's compression stroke. You can also use a long extension to ensure the piston is at it's highest travel.... the timing marks on the timing sprocket will be used to ensure your crank and cam timing are in sync/correct during the timing belt replacment.....please be at TDC before you remove the timing belt is the most important thing and I hope this helps....Good Luck!

 

It was a bit late but glad you got it...I've never been a believer of that feeler guage method either....but it's other alternate methods that will work as well....I like to measure belt deflection...