Maxgig

iTrader: (5)

This is my 3rd Maxima, (97 SE, 03 SE TE, and now 10 SV). I'm currently sitting at 116k miles and I'm going to have my serpentine belt replaced at 120k.

Has anyone who owns a 7th Gen Maxima had to replace your belt tensioner and if so at what mileage? The reason I ask is because the tensioner failed on my 03 Maxima but it was shortly after my radiator sprung a leak and sprayed coolant all over the front of my engine. I believe the car had 113k miles on it at the time.

I'm hoping to get a good comparison number of miles I can use to determine when or if I should do it when I get the belt changed as part of my preventive maintenance.

In the past I've gotten rid of my cars at 130k and 148k miles respectively but this car still looks and drives good, (plus I've added upgrades that I wouldn't want to remove if I decided to sell). So I'm going to keep it until at least 200k plus miles or for another 5-6 yrs. Thanks all.

LtLeary

Had to? No, but I did replace my belt, tensioner and pulleys prophylactically around 250k.

ThinBlue82

iTrader: (1)

Lt. you definitely win the prize for using "prophylactically" in a car forum post. Well done sir!

Maxgig

iTrader: (5)

How many times did you replace your belt in those 250k miles? And I'm assuming that the other items were a one time change at that mileage?

LtLeary

That was the only time up to then and yes, all were one time change. POST replacement is another story.

Truth be told, there were no parallel cracks in the belt and it could have stayed on, but the trick for me was finding a REPLACEMENT belt that would last more than a few weeks before chirping (especially in cold or wet weather.) Finally went with a DAYCO belt that has been going well for about a year but the Goodyear, AC Delco and Gates always seemed to start chirping after a few weeks. I had a Bando actually shred on me. But after going Dayco, no more issues with shredding, chirping or squealing. I always clean the groves with brake cleaner and wipe down with paper towels to get any grease, oil, dirt etc but for whatever reason, only the Dayco 5070670 has had any longevity (to date, knocking on wood!)

Note: When changing the tensioner you WILL need to either pull the power steering pump or use a good metric offset box wrench. I lost a few hours playing with multiple wobble sockets, extensions, universal joint adapters, 1/4 thru 3/8 until I realized my offset wrenches were made for this situation! Doh!

LtLeary

Oops, been hanging around medical professionals way too much lately!

Maxgig

iTrader: (5)

I appreciate the tip but for this job I'm taking the car to a shop and let them mess with it. Especially since my oil filter incident a few weeks ago. I inspected it and didn't see any cracks so I may just keep it on at least until 130k miles. Thanks for the info.

wildcat08

Thanks for the suggestion on the Dayco belt. I have replaced with Gates belts a few times only to have it squealing later. I replaced the belt tensioner and put the Dayco belt on and no more squeaks, chirps or squealing. Probably didn't need the tensioner but had already bought it. Definitely a pain to get that bolt directly behind the p/s pulley. Offset box wrench is the only way to go.

LtLeary

I just went through a month of shredding , and I mean SHREDDING of belts, at least one per week. No obvious defects until I noticed a seepage of ps fluid (never making it to the ground.) Two Ps pumps later (the first replacement actually increased the shred rate) back to normal. Even has the faint new car "whine" again. Never want to go thru that hassle again! It has been a few months and 7k miles (just rolled over 350,000 miles) so I am removing my "spare" belts and tools from the trunk and declaring success. Glad the Dayco is working for you! It had been a good one for me before the ps pump debacle of 2016!

wildcat08

Dayco belt came apart after about a week. Luckily it was close to home. Back to the Gates (NAPA) belt for now. Guess I'll just change them every 30k or so.

Chris Louis

Can anyone provide the part number for the belt. I’m trying to order one and I want to make sure I get the right one.

Richard66

oem p/n 11720-ja10b

Chris Louis

Thank you. I'm gonna replace my belt tensioner pulley. Its been squeaking since I hit 70,000m in cold weather.

MaximusN8

I would stick with OEM for the belt, I replaced mine with a Gates belt and it started to squeak after like 3 weeks, So I replaced it with another belt I forgot what brand that was and it started to squeak as well so I put an OEM belt and the squeaking was gone and never returned. Double check the tensioner you may not need one you may just need a belt but try to go with OEM if possible, just speaking from my experience..

Chris Louis

Tha is for the tip!!! I think I'll go that route because that's what happened to me. I was thinking the tensioner is the culprit. Maybe this won't be such a costly repair 🤔

User1

I replaced my tensioner and belt. $170 total OEM. It's tedious and therefore takes some time, but not hard. Use the time to dust off any rarely used vulgarities in your lexicon and an offset 13mm box-end wrench and you'll be good to go.

I used OEM belt and tensioner for my 2014:

Drive Belt:
https://www.nissanpartsdeal.com/part...g-belt,,11720N

Auto Tensioner:
https://www.nissanpartsdeal.com/part...ng-belt,,11955

Edit: I should add that I just recently did this job about two months ago. I'm no slouch when it comes to internet research for the best deal and you're not going to find a better deal on the OEM parts listed above. I buy a lot of OEM parts from my local Nissan dealership and they have been cool enough to match my online prices. Perhaps yours will be kind enough to do the same and save you a few shekels on shipping. Plus the dealer sources anything they don't have in stock from the next nearest dealer in the network and can have parts in the next day.