Drive Belt Tensioner Adjustment....
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 408
Drive Belt Tensioner Adjustment....
Well, after 96k miles, I decided to go ahead and change the belts even though they still looked just fine...
I get out the Haynes manual since this was the first time I'd changed belts on the car to see if there were any 'hidden' things to look out for... and it just says to loosen the tensioner for the main belt and remove. IT FAILED TO MENTION THE NUT ON THE TENSIONING PULLEY NEEDED TO BE LOOSENED FIRST! Oh well, to make a long story short, the thin reverse threaded bolt that goes down to the pulley broke when I hit it with the air ratchet.
After looking through the local muddy junkyard to no avail, I went home and decided to break out the tools and make something work.
That rod that broke was almost the exact same size as an american 5/16" bolt, so I ground the end of it, and a long threaded bolt to a point and welded them together. I then ground it down and ran a 5/16" tap down the whole thing. Presto!
Next, the part of the tensioner you turn needed addressed. See, the broken off stud was stuck in there, plus it had left hand 'reverse' metric threads... So I cut the top of it off and welded it to a thick washer and an american 5/16" nut.
I put it all back together, and it worked perfect... only difference is you now turn it in the opposite direction as before to tighten and loosen the belt.
Moral of the story...
LOOSEN THE NUT ON THE PULLEY BEFORE TRYING TO USE THE ADJUSTER!. There's also a bolt on the back of the power steering pump that needs loosened before it's adjuster can be worked... Which, by the way, is a major PITA to get to... even after removing the tire and splash cover for access.
Good Luck!
I get out the Haynes manual since this was the first time I'd changed belts on the car to see if there were any 'hidden' things to look out for... and it just says to loosen the tensioner for the main belt and remove. IT FAILED TO MENTION THE NUT ON THE TENSIONING PULLEY NEEDED TO BE LOOSENED FIRST! Oh well, to make a long story short, the thin reverse threaded bolt that goes down to the pulley broke when I hit it with the air ratchet.
After looking through the local muddy junkyard to no avail, I went home and decided to break out the tools and make something work.
That rod that broke was almost the exact same size as an american 5/16" bolt, so I ground the end of it, and a long threaded bolt to a point and welded them together. I then ground it down and ran a 5/16" tap down the whole thing. Presto!
Next, the part of the tensioner you turn needed addressed. See, the broken off stud was stuck in there, plus it had left hand 'reverse' metric threads... So I cut the top of it off and welded it to a thick washer and an american 5/16" nut.
I put it all back together, and it worked perfect... only difference is you now turn it in the opposite direction as before to tighten and loosen the belt.
Moral of the story...
LOOSEN THE NUT ON THE PULLEY BEFORE TRYING TO USE THE ADJUSTER!. There's also a bolt on the back of the power steering pump that needs loosened before it's adjuster can be worked... Which, by the way, is a major PITA to get to... even after removing the tire and splash cover for access.
Good Luck!
Nice work!
I did the same thing on my old max...only I just went to the dealer for the new parts.
The tension pully, bracket, adjustment bolt and everything else involved with the pully were only like $50. For high mileage cars, I'd just swap the pully's too.
I did the same thing on my old max...only I just went to the dealer for the new parts.
The tension pully, bracket, adjustment bolt and everything else involved with the pully were only like $50. For high mileage cars, I'd just swap the pully's too.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 408
It was Sunday evening, the nearest Nissan dealer was over an hour away (and closed), I needed the car the next day (today)... and figured the part would come as a whole assembly and cost at least double the $50 you quoted...
Must be a commonly broken piece!
Good Luck!
Must be a commonly broken piece!
Good Luck!
Donating Maxima.org Member
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 325
mine broke too....it was rusted on both side of that metal block and ended up siezing in there...the bolt was "only" $5-$6. the pulley for the other belt is not cheap...retail is like $75...find one of the discount guys to by from like pinnacle nissan or someone...found it for $40...i kept the old one and will replace the bearing in this one for a "back up". thankfully at the time i had a couple days of reassembly to do from my clutch and timing chain job.....next thing i knew the parts were in.
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Mar 12, 2020 12:06 AM