OK, so this is kind of embarrassing, but I seem unable to be able to change my serpentine belt. As I understand it, I need to hit the tensioner belt first to loosen it up, then turn the pulley bolt. I try to loosen the tensioner bolt(I even hit it with a mini impact wrench!) and it doesnt turn. I have basically stripped the pulley bolt trying to loosen it. What am I doing wrong?! the tensioner bolt doesnt LOOK rusted or anything, it just doesnt turn at all.

 

Bad idea to hit the tension adjusting nut before you get the pulley bolt loose. Sounds like you've got the pulley bolt stripped. Best bet is to get a pair of vice grips on there. TIGHT. Once you have the pulley bolt loose, you can then loosen the belt with the adjusting nut.

 

To illustrate what Nelledge said

 

This should help too, it's for a UDP install, but it's a step by step for what you need to get the belts out.

http://maxima.theowensfamily.com/udp.asp

 

Thanks Puppetmaster, that link was very useful, with pics. Looks like having a Serpentine Wrench would make the job much easier, so I'm going to order one. I'll have to figure out how to remove the stripped pulley bolt, but at least replacing the bolt should be straight forward.

 

I was able to loosen the PS pulley bolt with an offset box wrench from below. You have to take out the inner plastic fender well. Then use a couple of long extensions to turn the adjuster bolt. I may have had a swivel or one of the wobble extensions to allow a little offset to get at that bolt. Gotta watch the adjuster bolts, they are brass or some kind of softer metal. I stripped one too by not loosening the pulley bolt first. It took me 90 minutes the first time. Just did it again in under 30 recently.
Good luck!

Chuck

 

Thanks, Chuck.
Here is the tool I am thinking of purchasing:
http://www.tooltopia.com/kastar-hand...googlebase_18u

Seems like it would make life 100x easier.

 

Go to the junk yard and get another tensioner assembly.....

 

I cheated, If you have 2 people, including you, all you have to do is have someone crank the car little by little(not turning it on) while someone else slides the belt on. Because there was no way in hell I was dropping that power steering pump!.

***EDIT*** Are we talking about the power steering or the Idler tensioner?

 

Sounds a bit unnecessary! All you need to do is follow your maintenance manual! Possibly crank it and see how fast you can lose your fingers!

 

Hmm this thread is taking an interesting .... er.... turn?

 

Uh, not recommended, that's pretty dangerous if you ask me.

 

What? You guys scared? I'm kidding, OP, definitely not recommended, It's just what I did, took 2 mins and was the easiest way possible.

 

Yeah, I think I'll take my chances with my new serpentine belt tool that should be arriving tomorrow.

 

Just a heads up. I could be wrong but as far as I know, the serpentine belt tool is really only useful on cars with a spring loaded tensioner (unless there exist a tool that will spin your belt on under tension???). The max. uses an adjuster screw for tension, so the tool will be pretty much useless for the car you are trying to work on. This means you will have to either try to get the adjuster broken loose or remove or loosen the ps pump and slip the belt on and try to get the p.s. pump lined back up.

 

Well, we have to get a wrench on the pulley to loosen it, don't we? I cant fit a wrench in there, and the nut is becoming stripped, so this will allow me to have the reach I need to get the bolt off so I can replace it.

 

I don't think you have to mess with the ps pulley, there a screw facing inwards and upwards if I believe

 

I even tried a crows foot wrench(i think that's what it's called) and still couldn't unloosen anything.

 

Yep I tried the crows foot idea and that was no help. So I just ended up going to the mechanic and 25 mins later I was driving away.

Best bet if you have the spare 70 dollars go to a shop and breathe easy. (could actually have been cheaper in the long run)

 

This approach worked for a VW, not sure it would be so easy on our cars...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQhfcdQf1QA

 

Finally got it! I used a serpentine belt tool to loosen the idler pulley, once lossen the tension adjuster nut STILL wouldn't turn. So, I hit the nut with my 1/2" Impact Wrench, thinking if it was broken I would have to replace it anyways, and i broke it loose!

So I was able to get it changed, guess we'll see if I can get the tension right.

Below is a picture of the serpentine tool I was talking about. Its not one of those cheap sets you can get at Harbor Freight - It's like a gear wrench with 4 different sized sockets.

 

Pictured is the 3/8" Impact, it took a MUCH bigger impact to get that nut loose

 

Wow, what a headache!

I had to buy a 6-point 14mm wrench to get the bolt on the idler pulley loose on my 5.5 gen, as I was probably thirty seconds away from completely rounding it off. It was absolutely, totally frozen like a mo' fo'. No amounts of PB Blaster and tapping and any other tricks worked, until I gave up on my 12-point wrench and used a more manly 6-pointer. I don't remember how my friend and I eventually broke it loose, but multiple wrenches and breaker bars and sledges were used throughout the day. All told, we went at it for probably six(!!) hours getting the belt changed.

That same 6-point wrench let me loosen the nut on my 6th gen in probably five minutes (using the neat, wrench-slipped-on-a-wrench-to-double-your-lever/torque trick). It was on tight, but not nearly as bad as my '02's was. I'm not sure if it was age, rust, or what, but that was a nightmare I hope to never repeat.

Can that tool reach around to the power steering pump's nuts? I can't fit my ratchet in there, so I'm thinking about just buying a set of ratcheting wrenches, as I don't have a small enough wrench to fit on the nut. (Because, er, I only have ~5 wrenches. Cough.)

 

Hmm, not sure about the power steering nut, for me, that belt looks brand new, so I opted not to change it. It definitely works wonders for the idler pulley. My nut was incredibly close to being stripped from previous attempts, so I replaced it once I got it off.

It's doubtful that it can fit, as it is like 18" long. Perhaps something like this would be helpful: http://www.harborfreight.com/3-piece...set-90008.html

 

Ive been thinking about replacing my belts soon. Car just rolled 100k, they look ok but I have only had the car for 10k miles so I dont know when they were changed last. Any recommended brands of belts to get or should any Autozone belt do?

 

In my case, I went with OEM since the local Nissan dealer had them at just about the same price as Autozone and other autopart stores

 

Goodyear gator back belts are really nice

 

I shot a video of me performing this task. I am thankful to all the folks who have shared information on this task.