I found this in the how to's

http://www.greghome.com/images/Maxim...DriveBelts.jpg

But the images are almost indecipherable, and last time I tried following them my pulley fell off while driving

I want to do it myself, but I want to make sure I don't fall in the same pitfalls as last time. Any tips?

 

Query youtube "4th gen maxima belt". The AC/alternator belt is what you want.

 

for one....

Courtesy of Pmohr

http://forums.maxima.org/general-max...niti-fsms.html

and on a side note, whats the problem with doing the belt? its really not that difficult? are you just having problems with the tensioner?

 

dont wanna hijack this thread but its a relevant question; has anyone just cut off the old belt and tried to walk the new one on? so you don't have to mess with the tensioner?

 

The tensioner is easy to work with on the main drive belt. The PS is the PITA to adjust. Really, the main is not that hard. Loosen the main pulley with a 12mm wrench then loosen the adjuster, pull the belt, place the new and tighten the adjuster then the pulley. 10 minute job.

 

I d/l the FSM a while back, but thanks. But I think my problem lies with the tensioner, I don't know if last time I unscrewed something I shouldn't have but the tensioner pulley fell off while running thank god it wasn't on the highway or something and just a few feet away from my house. So i'm kind of leery about trying to change the belt myself again (yeah it's been that many miles since and it's due Alt/AC belt is very cracked and I fear it will snap if not taken care of soon, plus I can sense some slack in it which is affecting performance)

 

I just did both belts and to answer eFLO's question, I backed out the tensioner as far as I could but it was still too difficult to remove the PS belt by hand. I just cut it, and then walked on the new belts as you suggested.

 

Hey Dex you get it squared away man?

 

glad to hear it worked out for ya, i'm gonna try to do them

 

Same here. Would not come off any other way, that I could see.

 

Sure you backed it out all the way, or had the correct belt on there? With the proper length belt, the PS pump can swivel more than far enough out of the way to make belt removal easy.

 

Don't forget you need to loosen the 12mm pulley bolt as well as the adjuster bolt on the main belt. The 12mm pulley belt is actually what keeps the tension on the belt. the adjuster is just to hold the belt in place until you can tighten the pulley bolt.

Has anyone ever noticed that the adjustment bolt is threaded backwards? Makes sense though even though you are tightening the bolt you are loosening the pulley

 

Couldn't get my p/s pump lose either, I cut the belt off and walked the new one on with no problem. Took less then 5 min.

 

It's a 14mm head, not 12mm.

That nut doesn't hold tension on the belt, it just locks the tensioner pulley in place so it doesn't back off. Tension is placed on the belt via the tensioner bolt.

 

There are a bunch of people on the org whose pulleys flew off, and a few threads about how they were using their spidey vision to find the nuts, bolts, and washers in the dark.... True story. I'm sure they all went and changed their belts right after the experience.

 

why not use a torque wrench to ensure the pulleys don't fall off?

 

Unless you have some kind of extension/crowfoot for the torque wrench, there is not enough space to fit a torque wrench with a socket. My doesn't fit, I had to go with the 14mm box wrench instead.