i bought my 2k maxima about a month ago, did most of the maintnence and just yesterday niticed the accesory belts were making the typical squeeking belt noise.

the car has 74k but no cracks on the belts, they look ok, why would they be making the noise and should i change the belts?

anyone know the right size (part numbers) of the 2 accesory belts?

 

belt is slipping
make sure it is tight enough then use some belt-dressing on it

 

how do you tighten the belts??

i put some wd-40 on them and the noise is gone, but im not sure how to tighten the belts.

 

wd-40 is a solvent, its going to dry them out and make it worse. Sooner has the right idea, use some belt dressing, that will make them happy.

 

You have two belts, the alternator/AC belt is easy to tighten, the tensioner is right on top. You loosen the locknut on the side and then turn the tensioner on top. Tighten the belt so when you twist it, it will only deflect 1/4 turn with decent hand strength (not an exact science but that's good enough.)

However, I bet it's your power steering belt that is slipping. If you don't know how to tighten your belts already I won't describe how to do this one, it is much more complicated and there are several bolts that take Matrix-mind-power to manuever to.

Go to a hardware store and ask for belt dressing. Spray it on the pulleys themselves and not the belts for the best effect. It is sticky stuff so just be careful not to coat the inside of your engine bay with it. Also usually flammable up until it dries, which won't take long.

Don't use WD-40 as it acts sort of as a lubricant (though it's really not), and is having the exact opposite effect. Belt dressing is sort of a sealant for the belt, but once it dries it mainly acts like tar or glue.

 

they are pretty tight, so being loose isnt the problem,

i dont know the last time they were changed, so should i change them?

and they look a bit shiny, or glazed, is that normal or a problem?

 

Your belt won't be that lose. If it was, it won't stay on the pulley.

I would change them just to be on the safe side since you got 74k miles on it. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

74k is plenty of mileage on a set of belts to warrant changing them. However, I don't know that loose belts are guaranteed to fall off the pulleys. It is hard to check the lower, but I had my adjustment slip on the lower one once and it was very very loose and didn't fall off.

 

they should not be shiny, that means they are drying out.
belt dressing will "moisten" them which will make them last longer and grip the pullies better so they dont slip.

 

Belt dressing is only a temporary solution. All it really does is make the belts sticky. If a belt is worn to the point that tightening it won't solve the squealing, it needs to be replaced. I never recommend belt dressing to anyone.

 

If they are glazed, that is a sign of wear from friction with the pulleys. A belt change is in order. It's preventive maintenance. You could end up with a broken belt on the interstate.

 

thanx a lot for all the feedback, ill probly change them next week.