Im trying to remove the center nut on the idler pulley on a 03' maxima to be able to ultimately get to the alternator. I tried to loosen the belts as much as possible then try it but almost feels as though the nut is stuck even after soaking it in PB blaster. Any ideas or help is appreciated

 

What you are doing sounds correct. You may have to apply more force to break the nut free. I would suggest that you use a 6 point socket or box wrench, not a 12 point, to avoid rounding the corners of the nut.

 

i was using a box wrench but the nut started to strip...Ill try getting a 3/8 breaker bar on it and see if that does the trick but idk if there is even room for that. any other advice is appreciated

 

you loosen the top bolt, then you loosen the bolt where it goes into the block, both of those release the tension on teh belt

FYI i've read of stripping/fukin up the tensioner, so be prepared to POSSIBLY need to buy a new one, i was fortunate i didnt have to

 

We talked about this in the alternator thread. http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...l?ref=esp-link

Page 2 has pictures.

Maybe this is the cause of the confusion:

There is the center nut on which the pulley spins. Soak this in penetrating oil, and loosen that with a six point box wrench/socket. Then the top tension adjustment nut will actually adjust the tension.

 

both of those are used to adjust the tension, FYI

 

It doesn't help that they used the softest metal they could get away with on the tentioner lock nut. I had this problem too and ended up buying a set of bolt-outs from Sears to get the damned thing off. After that I replaced the nut with a washer and hardened nut. It's held up fine for the last 60,000 miles.

 

Instead of busting your knuckles trying to remove the bolt, just buy a replacement bolt and have a shop take off the stripped bolt and replace it with a new bolt. It wont cost that much and will be cheaper than buying tools.

 

I dont go to shops haha I bought a new tensioner and bolts from Maximajoe (new used) for cheap so im gonna get it off one way or another. Appreciate the help guys. I did the alternator on my 01 not long ago and never had any issues....

 

I cant figure out the size of the cap nut that goes onto the tensioner pulley

 

Need the size of the nut that holds the pulley on part# 08911-3401a

 

It's been a while since I did this, but I believe that both the idler pulley bolt and the idler pulley tension adjuster bolt are 14mm.

Try using a serpentine wrench so you can get some extra leverage on it. You could try a local auto parts store with a free rental tools program so you don't have to buy it.