Hi I all. After years of lusting, I finally purchased my own maxima. Recently when I crank the car up, Im hearing the squeaking noise. From being a gear head I know this is the timing belt, however I knew that all maximas, 95 and up have timing chains. When I peeked under the hood yesterday I noticed that I have a timing BELT. I am thoroughly confused. Any suggestions?

 

The timing chain is covered. The belts you see are driving the accessories, steering, ALT, AC etc.

Download your FSM so you know exactly what's going on with what.

http://www.boredmder.com/FSMs/Nissan/Maxima/

 

Thanks! I just realized that it was the serpintine belt. Im gonna go poke around to make sure nothing is misaligned

 

Start up squeaks are usually from the alternator belt, as the alternator has extra load on it from charging up the battery. Try tightening it up if there are no visible cracks/damage. If that doesn't work, replace the belt. Also check all the pulleys for play and clean off any grease on them.

 

Also on the 03 maxima if you change your serpentine belt and still get the belt noise you may want or need to replace your belt tensioner pulley. On my 03 the tensioner pulley was failing and my belt was out of alignment by just a little bit. It was enough to make every new belt squeal no matter what I did.

 

Pretty much goes for any 95-08 model.

Part is cheap too. Like 35$. I think I might even have an extra one lying around.

 

My 03 maxima was squeaking on start up too. I changed my serpentine belt and that seemed to work.

 

I'm sure it's the tensioner bearing about to go out....