Did my belts and Idler pulley today: Some Observations
Did my belts and Idler pulley today: Some Observations
I finally got down to doing my yearly maintenance on the max today.
Work completed:
1. Idler Pulley
2. Both Belts
3. Added Progress RSB
I noted a few things as I was going and hope it helps others as they attempt the same.
1. Tools:
Make sure you have all sorts of the extension sockets, extension rods and svivel adapters to get to the PS pump rotator bolt.
For the PS pump locknut make sure you have a 12mm box wrench. I bought a metric set from Harbor Freight recently and that $15 has paid off today! They are the kind that have a switch and can actually ratchet making life super easy.
A stubby ratchet to get that bolt facing down.
An assortment of tools in case you run into issues you may not have accounted for.
2. Doing the job:
The idler pulley bolt opened for me without any problems so did the pulley tensioner bolt.
I had to wiggle a few swivel sockets and wobble extension rods to get to the ps pump rotator bolt.
Except for the PS tensioner bolt others were fine.
3. Problems faced:
As I got the PS pump rotator bolt and then the lock nut, I made the mistake of not loosening the lock nut good enough. Due to this as I loosened the long pulley tension release bolt, it kept eating into the bracket and finally got loose but it did not lower the PS pump enough for me to get the belt off.
I had a thread going this afternoon for it. Everytime I tried to get that long bolt going, it would eat into the bracket resulting in the bracket bending. At this point, I was thinking of giving up.
Soon I had the long bolt and the lock nut completely off and was thinking on lines of simply going to the dealership.
Took sometime off and looked around the garage to see what tool I could use.
A couple blue moons later and in an altered state of mind I finally wedged a long screw driver into that bracket so the long bolt would not slip off the bracket and got the PS pump lowered just enough to get the belt off.
I did not want to mess around with that bolt so I put the new belt on and using a 19mm wrench turned the crank pulley to get the belt back on!! Phewww...
Then I had my second problem.
I had ordered a new idler pulley from Rockauto of the Dayco brand.
While it says OEM, there is a difference. The stock dust shields from the factory pulley do not sit properly on the Dayco pulley causing it to lock up as you put the idler pulley bolt back on.
When I thought I was done and started the car, I got the whine from that area, immediately stopped the engine and found the problem.
I saw on the dayco box that they say the bearing is sealed and that dust shields may or may not be used. I removed the rear shield and put it all back together.
Started up motor and all is fine!
My second job for the day was the adding of the progress RSB and that went without any issues at all!
Test drove the car... I do have to say... feels extremely poised on curves and body roll is significantly reduced. I guess since I have a GLE with 16inch wheel pkg the effect of the RSB was more pronounced compared to a 4th gen I drove earlier this week which was shod with 18s.
I feel this is a task easily doable at home but time and tools.... and above all beer... IT makes things happen!
Work completed:
1. Idler Pulley
2. Both Belts
3. Added Progress RSB
I noted a few things as I was going and hope it helps others as they attempt the same.
1. Tools:
Make sure you have all sorts of the extension sockets, extension rods and svivel adapters to get to the PS pump rotator bolt.
For the PS pump locknut make sure you have a 12mm box wrench. I bought a metric set from Harbor Freight recently and that $15 has paid off today! They are the kind that have a switch and can actually ratchet making life super easy.
A stubby ratchet to get that bolt facing down.
An assortment of tools in case you run into issues you may not have accounted for.
2. Doing the job:
The idler pulley bolt opened for me without any problems so did the pulley tensioner bolt.
I had to wiggle a few swivel sockets and wobble extension rods to get to the ps pump rotator bolt.
Except for the PS tensioner bolt others were fine.
3. Problems faced:
As I got the PS pump rotator bolt and then the lock nut, I made the mistake of not loosening the lock nut good enough. Due to this as I loosened the long pulley tension release bolt, it kept eating into the bracket and finally got loose but it did not lower the PS pump enough for me to get the belt off.
I had a thread going this afternoon for it. Everytime I tried to get that long bolt going, it would eat into the bracket resulting in the bracket bending. At this point, I was thinking of giving up.
Soon I had the long bolt and the lock nut completely off and was thinking on lines of simply going to the dealership.
Took sometime off and looked around the garage to see what tool I could use.
A couple blue moons later and in an altered state of mind I finally wedged a long screw driver into that bracket so the long bolt would not slip off the bracket and got the PS pump lowered just enough to get the belt off.
I did not want to mess around with that bolt so I put the new belt on and using a 19mm wrench turned the crank pulley to get the belt back on!! Phewww...
Then I had my second problem.
I had ordered a new idler pulley from Rockauto of the Dayco brand.
While it says OEM, there is a difference. The stock dust shields from the factory pulley do not sit properly on the Dayco pulley causing it to lock up as you put the idler pulley bolt back on.
When I thought I was done and started the car, I got the whine from that area, immediately stopped the engine and found the problem.
I saw on the dayco box that they say the bearing is sealed and that dust shields may or may not be used. I removed the rear shield and put it all back together.
Started up motor and all is fine!
My second job for the day was the adding of the progress RSB and that went without any issues at all!
Test drove the car... I do have to say... feels extremely poised on curves and body roll is significantly reduced. I guess since I have a GLE with 16inch wheel pkg the effect of the RSB was more pronounced compared to a 4th gen I drove earlier this week which was shod with 18s.
I feel this is a task easily doable at home but time and tools.... and above all beer... IT makes things happen!
When I done mine had to get long 12mm wrench to reach PS lock bolt.
Supporting Maxima.org Member
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 235
belt tension
Nice write up. I just did my belts today. Getting the PS belt off was a royal pain. But the big question I have is about belt tension. The factory service manual says a new AC/alternator belt should be between 188-208 lbs and a new PS belt should be between 136 and 155 lbs. That is a LOT of tension. I know everyone says to "feel" it, but if you haven't done this before, how do you know what a new belt should feel like? Even if you have the gauge Nissan recommends, there is no way to fit it in there to measure. I guess it wouldn't be a big deal if it wasn't so hard to get in there and readjust.
I adjusted mine tighter than the original belts, leaving leaving room for them to stretch, but they still feel pretty tight.
Any thoughts?
I adjusted mine tighter than the original belts, leaving leaving room for them to stretch, but they still feel pretty tight.
Any thoughts?
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