I finally found the source of this loud whinning sound I get from the engine which goes higher in pitch as the engine revs. With the help of some members at the SoCal (west coast) meet yesterday, its definitely the idler pulley. I have searched the how-to stickies and didn't find a write-up. My Chilton doesn't seem to cover this either. So I'm seeking some assistance from people here on the how-to.

Thanks.

 

Here you go: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....ghlight=pulley

 

Thanks THT, so basically I should loosen that adjustment bolt all the way til the whole thing comes off?

 

Not the one accessible from above. Loosen the bolt holding the pulley (reach it from under/side of the car when you have the wheel off) and remove it altogether.

 

Is it the center bolt that holds the pulley itself in place? So basically the first step would be to release the tension by loosening the tension adjustment bolt, then remove center bolt. Is that correct? What's the torque spec on this bolt? Thanks for your help.

 

Bingo.

Correctamundo.

I don't know. I tightened it with a box wrench until I couldn't move it with one hand. No issues here and that was several thousands of miles ago.

 

Awesome.........thanks for all your help.

 

One more question THT....

How hard is it to remove the middle bolt that holds the pulley in place? Would I need to wedge something into the pulley while removing the bolt to keep everything from turning along with it? What's the torque on it when re-tightening?

Thanks.

 

The difficult rests in getting the box wrench on there. I don't know what the torque spec is though; I just tightened it pretty solidly.

 

You will be better off removing the whole idler pulley assembly, it will make it easier I think. It did for me... if you are buying it from the dealer you will only get the pulley, or if you get the "Whole" assembly you will get the pulley and the adjuster too but NOT the mounting bracket. I broke my adjuster when I put on my underdrive pulley and had to suffer for 4 days while the dealer got their act together.

 

How do you do that, my chilton doesn't cover this part?

 

I disagree. Removing the bolt so the pulley itself can be taken off is enough. You don't need to remove the adjuster.

 

THT, I was looking at the pulley from above the engine. There's about 2" of gap between the pulley and the fender to fit a long ratchet type wrench. Would this work???

 

I couldn't get it to to work and I was using a 3/8" drive ratchet. That's why I went with a box wrench

 

I was talking about this one.

 

That'd work fine.

 

Well, you could either struggle with it from up above or you could just take off the wheel, and remove 4 screws (2 plastic) holding the protective cover on and you'd see everything right in front of you. Just changing my belts now.

By the way, does anyone know how a better way to get to the power steering pulley set screw? The only way I can see is to hit it from below. I can get to the 'tensioning setting' screws, but it seems like I'd need a smurf with a pair of Vice Grips to get in there. I know I'm a wussy by posting this pathetic question, but am I the only one who's come accross this?

Thanks.

 

Ok so the idler pulley came in just now, and realized that the pulley came with the tensioner bracket:


So looking at my Chilton book, I am thinking of loosening and removing the tensioner adjustment nut. Then, slide the belt off of the pulley and slide the entire assembly down and out of the engine. I'm sure this will work and now I can do this from the top of the engine. Anyone see a different way of doing this??

 

Well, I thought my theory would work but didn't. I guess the only way to get to this is by removing the nut that holds the pulley onto the tensioner bracket. Then things can easily slide off from under. The only thing that seems odd to me is that even when the tensioner nut is loosed fully, there is still tension on the belt so it is not going to slide off just like that. Any suggestion guys??

 

Loosen the nut holding the pulley then loosen the tensioner some more. The belt will slacken.

 

Yes listen to him. Reverse the process when you want to tighten it.

Its 10X easier to access this buy jacking up the passenger side of the car and going from underneath as there is more clearance below the idler pulley once you remove the splash gaurds. The bolt is IIRC 10 or 12mm and its a straight forward process in removing and replacing. Just remember where which washer goes where or otherwise the tensioner will make noise as soon as you start it up.

 

Now I see why the nut, that holds the pulley in place, has to be loosen. I was just trying to take a short cut but there's really none for this one. Thanks guys.

 

Yeah I made the same mistake when I had be tighten the belt. I was in WTF mode thinking why turning the bolt wasn't doing anything

 

I finally did it! Started at 7:30 am to avoid the unbearable humidity and heat but it was already warming up pretty good that early in the morning.

Anyhow, I took a little longer than expected, two things: 1) installing the new pulley, and 2) re-fastening the dust shield.

First obstacle:
Since I got the entire idler pulley assembly, I went ahead and replaced everything. In order for me to also replace the old idler pulley bolt, I had to remove the A bracket where the pulley bolt slides up and down on which in turn adjusts the pulley tension. It was a really tight fit in there and now I saw why it is best to access everything from under the car. Also, when I removed the old pulley, I did not take note of where the fat spacer goes. At first I thought it was suppose to go behind the tensioner but after putting on all the pieces, the pulley was touching the tensioner so I know I had something mixed up. Sure enough, the fat spacer goes infront of the tensioner instead, after the pulley itself. After correcting that minor error, I tightened up the pulley nut. I must have over-tightened it because, when I started the engine and let it idle, there's this screech coming from the pulley but not too audible but loud enough for me to pick it up. Also, I must have over-tightened the tension as well. So I loosened the nut again, readjusted the tension so that the belt deflection is within 1/2" (according to Chiltons). Then I retightened the pulley nut but only to about 24 in-lb (not very tight at all). That seems to have fixed that problem. I also noticed that the new pulley is different from the old one.

Second obstacle:
When I removed the dust shield, I tried pulling the retainer tabs off but since they were old and very brittle, the just cracked in two and they were unuseable. Since I had no replacement, and after spending 20 minutes looking for the screws fat enough to fit inside the existing holes snugly, I finally gave up and got my cordless drill out. I drilled out a small hole, and used a metal screw with a big washer. That seems to hold the dust shield up a lot better than the original ones.

So after replacing the idler pulley, the loud whining noise which I thought, and also was told, caused by worn or bad idler pulley is still present. So now, I strongly believe that its the alternator pulley. Now I have to shop for an alternator.

 

Autozone, Bosch alternator. 1/3 the price of an OEM reman unit and a lifetime warranty.

 

Alternator replacement is easy as well