Tried searching to see what other people are paying. I know it's not that hard, but have been thinking about changing my drive belts. They squeal in the morning for a few minutes. Annoys the crap out of me.

Just like that I get a mailer from my dealer and they have a special to change both drive belts for $89.99... Good Price? Might take advantage and get some good Nissan Oil and Oil Filter with a coupon I have for 15.99...

Is 89.99 good?

Thanks guys...

 

Tighten the mothertruckers. I paid 30 for both mine @ NAPA.

 

I think I paid about $10 each from DaveB and installed them in 20 minutes.

Buy the belts, and buy a Haynes manual, and save yourself $40 or so....

 

Are you sure you did it in 20 minutes? It took me 20 minutes to take off the dust shields and the tire and it took me half a day to figure out how I am going to loosen the damn PS pump bolt (which incidently is in the most f.cked up place on earth) before giving up..

IMHO 20min is impossible.

On that note, $90 is a reasonable price to pay to get the belts replaced.

 

If the PS bolt turns out to be for you, change the alt belt on your own, and pay them only to change the PS belt. And that shouldn't be 90$....

The alt belt can be done in 4 minutes if you have the shroud off already. No need to even take the wheel off, though it will make it MUCH easier if the wheel is removed.

I've done mine in a parking lot w/o using a jack :

 

You know mine squeal too at cold start-up, but im starting to think its the tensioner instead of the belts since its more of a ringing than a squealing/squeek, but dissapears when it warms up a little.

 

Your belts are slipping, time to change!!!

 

^^ my belts have 6K miles on them and they squeal.. what's funny is mine are pretty darn tight.. belt conditioner didn't really help much either.

I know I've said it before, but it seems like a lot of people w/ aftermarket UDPs have this problem, not just on Maximas. Of course this SHOULDN'T happen, but it nonetheless seems to be a common issue...

 

joebangaa

Did you change your belts to the suggested units w/ the UDP?

 

It's been about half a year since the UDP and belts went on so I'm having a hard time remembering which sizes I bought. I know it's recommended to get the K060408 or K060410 for the Alternator and K040300 for the PS... IIRC, I used the K060410 and K040305 cuz we couldn't get the K040300 to fit. It's only 5mm longer and the tensioner was able to compensate for the extra size, so I never had any squealing issues until recently when the A/C was actually put to use during the hot weather.

 

I paid about...$130 for both my belts installed at the stealership. Wish I knew about the .org back then. Oh well....

 

how often shoudl the drivebelts be swapped? we have 55k on our 03, dealer claimed they needed to be changed and quoted us around $100.
they claimed ever 45-55k is time to change them.

 

You change them pretty much when they start to crack and it really depends on your location, some is some areas can go longer than others before needing to be changed. I just had to have mine changed at 47K, so that 45-55k might be accurate per your dealer. Also that 89.99 is good deal from dealership to have the belts changed.

 

You can't change the PS belt without taking off the Alt belt... so they would charge you the full amount anyways.

As for belt size, a belt any manufacture, ie k060408, 5060408(dayco)5060408dr(drive rite)

6 = 6 rib
0408 = 40.8 in

so in this case, tthe 40305 is really 1/2 inch longer then the 40300.

 

Appointment Scheduled...
After reading all you guys had to say, I would say that there is a possibility I can do it myself. But will not risk it, will go to the dealer and let them take care of it for me. My mechanic skills are very diminished.

Mines is at 52k right now. So that 45-55k seems to be on point.

 

i agree, i like to do whatever i can myself but it is a huge pain to change the belts on these cars.

 

Any write ups on how to do this on a 2000-2001 model?

 

guys I have 73,000 miles on my 2K1 and still didnt have my belts changed. Im thinking of just going to the mechanic and having him change it however I would like to buy the belts myself to save some $$ maybe and make sure I get good stuff. Should I go with OEM belts from DAVEB? How many belts will I need and which ones? Thanks.

 

Go with gatorbacks

 

You can buy them from Courtesy Nissan. http://www.courtesyparts.com/

It's just TWO belts. http://www.courtesyparts.com/A33_belts.html

Power Steering and Compressor/Alternator.

 

Gatorback is a good belt, but they seem to be ribbed a little different. I'm not sure about the maximas, but everyone I know that has swapped to a gatorback on the mustangs (Ford 302), including myself, has ended up with a supercharger type of whine. (but a whole lot quietier than a supercharger.)

 

they changed my belt around 60k and i was getting a squeal at startup. I think they invoiced me $16 for the belt and like $70 to install it. I ALWAYS was a little peeved about it since i can usually change a belt with my eyes closed, but hearing the pains needed to do it I don't feel quite as ripped off paying $86 for it. Seems like average milage is 50-70k for these and usually the tensioners should be fine. I think my service included a tensioner adjustment, so, if you have less than 40k on your belts, try it.

 

5thgenmaxima,
What kind of whine did you have with gatorbacks? I have the whining sound coming from the belt area. I guess I noticed it when I had my both belts replaced at my mechanic. I don't know belt of which brand were installed in my car, but they're definitely not OEM (I can read only K4356 on alternator belt). I've already replaced the tensioner pulley with a new OEM one - still have this whine. What's interesting - I can reduce (but not eliminate) the noise by loosening the alternator belt, but in this case I have the belt slipping, especially when I start the car (e.g. in the morning) or under the load. If I tighten it then the whine increases. It's been for a few months now, I can't stand this "supercharger"-like sound anymore.
Any ideas guys what is this can be? All advices are very appreciated.

 

good choice. for that price IMO it is worth it.

 

Nobody had such whine?

 

Get a long screwdriver / prybar and with the car on touch around the pulley/alternator compressor while having the ear on the other end. One of them should whine louder..