okay soo the rust lurking around on my maxima finally posed a problem, i was going too loosen the belt for my alternator change and the damn belt tensioner snapped at the screw part. heres a picture of it

mines broke somewhere around where the threads start....but my problem is the belt is still just as tight as ever..... am i missing something? or is my belt tensioner assembly just stuck?????? i know this is going too be a junk yard part too find and replace or does anyone know of a place?.... ive looked around cant find nothing else that might loosen the belt? any help id appreciate it!

 

i don't understand. how is the belt still tight with the tensioner out of the vehicle? i hope you loosened the pulley nut before actually trying to release tension.

 

How did you get all that rust living in Florida - drive in the ocean?

 

ahh well damnit, i had no idea of the DAMN pulley nut had too be loosened oh well, learned the hard way one i got it out, i saw how it works... i got it out, but yet its still broken...im not enjoyin this maxima alternator work at all..... i changed my chevys alternator in under 10 minutes....grrrr lol...... oh well i guess im just ognna go junk yard hopping but the rust, this was a car from up north, thats all i can figure.....

 

I managed to break mine too when I was replacing the belt. To answer one of the above questions, the way the belt stays tight is by keeping the nut on the face of the tensioner tight but you cannot adjust how tight the belt is (vertical movement of the pulley). Though you can push down on the pulley and try to make the belt tight by tightening the nut, but I tried that and could not get it to be tight enough, you'll need the long bolt too. I bought the whole new tensioner assembly. It costs around $30-40...

 

As for your rust problem, living near an ocean does it as it is humid in the area and it was the humidity that killed it. For me - salty Canadian winters :-)

 

it's all a learning process seventy5impala, don't feel bad.

 

Yea learning the hard way, but least its learned!....... but my car was orginally from north NY....only came too florida in january...car fax is great lol.... but igzy, where did u get the tension assembly from? a junk yard?

 

No, a dealer, well priced I thought, under $40... When I bought one for my Olds before it cost more than $100... They keep them in stock usually as those bolts break easy...