I have both belts replaced about 6 month ago at the Freehold Nissan Dealer, NJ. The new belts makes minor squeaking noise, which I have been ignored. However, it seems more noticeable when weather changes these days. (Of course, the dealer told me that the warranty did not cover the belt adjustment :-) ). So I decide to give a shot myself.

First, I need to figure out which belt (or both) is the problem? The squeaking noise is only heard when idle or coasting, and disappears when I accelerate. Can I conclude it is the drive belt needed to be adjusted. Second, if it is the drive belt. How do you eventually tight the pulley bolt to the right torque after done the adjustment (according to the spec I read, it s/b torqued to 19-24 FT-LB)? It doesn't seem to have enough room to fit my torque wrench with a socket.

 

man i have the same problem! mine i jus bought. the guy i bought it from told me he had them replaced. but when i start it, it makes that whining noise. i got a place that said they'd adjust it for like $30. let me know what u find out.

 

squeaking BELT is usually indicative of too little tension on the belt.
Belt tension is measured by how far down you can press the belt when it is on and all tightened up. It should be 1/4" or very close to it.

 

I have the same squeaking problem but I'm not sure if its a belt. For me the squeaking starts when I first start the car for work. Once I get up to 20 MPH or higher it stops. It also squeaks when I run the ac or heat but as soon as I turn it off the squeak stops. A frind of mine suggested belt dressing and that seemed to work for a bit but did not fix the problem. Short of taking it to a mechanic I've learned to ride with the windows down more often than not.

 

wow dude, it takes like 10-15 minutes if that to adjust the belts. christ what do they charge, 120.00 an hour???

 

that belt dressing never works, its a gimmick, you just need to adjust your idler pulley so that its got enough tension on the belt. over-tightening will result in premature belt wear, and the pulley to wear out quicker.

 

After you done with adjusting the belt tensioner, how do you tighten the pulley bolt to the right torque? I don't seem to able to fit my torque wrench in the narrow space?

 

the pulley has a bolt in the center of it that should be at your read torque spec. That is not touched when you adjust belt tension. there is a nut that is used to adjust tension from the top.

 

Now I am confused. I read on a different thread here, mentioned that the proper way to adjust the tension was to loose the pulley bolt first before you can adjust the tensioner from the top. Is that untrue?

 

You're 100% correct. If you do not loosen that bolt, you risk destroying the assembly. The tensioner will not be able to go up or down if you do not loosen that bolt. Loosen it first, make your desired adjustments with the top bolt, then re-tighten the pulley bolt to lock it in place.

 

Thanks, CriME. That is what I thought! Back to my original question, after you loose the pulley bolt and adjust the tensioner bolt correctly. How do you then tight the pulley bolt up to the correct torque. The space seems to tight to fit my torque wrench in?

 

Yes, it's too tight for a torque wrench, I just used a box wrench from below and used my "calibrated wrist".

The ps belt is my problem, I can't seem to get a wrench on the back bolt, actually I get the wrench on but can't move it then.

 

I have a different whining noise coming out, I hear the whining sound while accelerating - more when I accelerate over a small/minor grade or uphill and then it disappears. I don't hear the sound on idle or crusing or coasting. I know for sure that none of the belts in the car are changed in the last 60k miles and I'm at 159k right now ... any clues ? thanks

 

Can't tell what. But if the belts have not been changed for the past 60k miles, I would start from there first.

 

To OP: there are TWO belts there: Alternator belt and Steering pump belt.
Any of those two can squeak.
If you never adjusted steering pump belt before, there is a hard-to access bolt on the back of the pump, that needs to be loosened FIRST. 14mm socket on a 1/2 inch drive ratchet with a piece of foot-long pipe as an extension worked for me, it is very tight up down there, but doable. After that bolt is loose, you need to loosen the bolt on the side of the bracket of the pump, which is accessible from top with a small 12mm open-end. ATTENTION: Haynes manual does not mention a word about this bolt, and if you follow the manual you will strip the adjustment bolt from then bottom, if you do not loosen that side bolt. Turning adjustment bolt COUNTERCLOCKWISE will tighten the belt, moving the pump UP.
ALTERNATOR belt- loosen the pulley bolt with 12mm open-end, removing passenger side splash guard first, then, from the top, put a 14mm socket with long extension on a ratchet. turning CLOCKWISE will tighten the alternator belt. Forget about the torque on the pulley bolt- just snug tighten it, not too much.

 

Just completed a water pump replacement on my 98 max and got all my fluids, mounts, reservoirs, belts back in for the big start up. Well as some of you know, the chain rattle that u hear on start up after messing with the chain tensioner is mortifying! but it wasnt near as bad as this sqealing coming from the a/c, alternator belt area.

I let it squeal for less than a minute and then started seeing a little smoke from the area, and quickly shut it down. The belt seemed tight when i had got it all back together, so i assumed it was TOO tight. I loosened the belt tensioner and the squealing lessened, and then loosened some more and the squeal went away.

But the belt seems WAY too loose, almost flapping around while its running. But anytime i add any tension to it at all, it starts squealing again.

Now it seems my alternator is not charging anymore. I can see that the belt is turning the alt but Im only reading 11.8 volts at the battery (while running) and it steadily falls until the car starts to sputter.

Could I have disconnected something electrical while messing near the water pump? Could I have burned up my alt with a belt that was TOO tight? I did see some smoke at initial start up.


thanks in advance

 

You are suppose to tighten the belt if it squeals not loosen it. I don't see how an overtighten belt can squeal. Just start tightening little by little until it stops squealing. If it doesn't then you're tightening the wrong belt.

 

thanks for the reply

Im tensioning the larger of the two belts (not the ps pump belt). I will mess with it again tonite and try tightening it down again, like you said. If the bearing was out on my alternator, would IT squeal like a pig? Or possibly I got a bunch of antifreeze on the belt and pulleys when i pulled the water pump, as a guy at work suggested.

May end up pulling the alternator and taking it to autozone for testing.

thanks for the reply

 

You might try some belt dressing on one belt to try and determine which one is squeaking. The dressing should work for a little bit to rule out one belt or another.

 

For a cheap temporary belt dressing (of course they're all temporary) just rub a bar of white soap (Ivory has a nice scent ) on the underside of the belt, the side that rides on the pulley. Do it on one belt at a time, start the engine and see if the noise goes away. If it does, then that's the one you work on. Just don't try putting the soap on while the engine is running!!!

 

Thanks for the help guys (or girls)!

Put the belt on again last night pretty snugly and started her up. No squealing and alternator is putting out 14v. Im thinking belt was so loose that it was slipping somewhat on alt pulley and only turning it half speed or so. SO everything seems to be working now and i dont even hear a chain rattle after replacing water pump. Im happy.

 

Same exact scenario...

I had my old belts on, never made a noise, and brought my car in asnd was told I need to replace my belts. I did so, and then ever since my car has made a loud *** squiling noise when i turn it on. It goes away after I rev the engine a couple times, but then when I turtn my AC on it comes back.


Oh, and My belts have been checked for tension, and they're tight. Still makes the noises.

 

Guess I'm not alone.