Hey everyone.Lately my J30 has developed a pretty horrible belt screech/squeal noise.

It used to go away after it warmed up for about a minute, but now it goes on for the whole time I'm driving...

I just took apart the intake and doused every belt with belt conditioner....but to no effect.

Any opinions?

Thanks!!!

could be the pulleys themselves...

Most likely the idler pulley.

you had best inspect/R/R your pulleys before one seizes and leaves you stranded and/overheated.

i've had the same problem with mine.

i posted once but i guess it never showed...

anyway, tighten all your pulleys, that should fix it temp. however, my ac pulley is bad and needs to be replaced 150bucks though....

I have had the same problem occur a couple of times. A loose alternator belt has always been the source of the problem for me. I would make sure that the alternator belt and all of the other belts are tight enough before you do anything else.

Hey guys.Thanks for all the responses.

I forgot to add the actual symptoms of the squealing.Mainly that the sound stays the same while idling, but changes when I accelerate or turn on the A/C.

How does one tighten the belts?Can it be done with simple tools?

I believe that you can adjust the tension in your belts from either the top of the engine or from underneath the engine. I can only give advice on how to adjust the belts from underneath the engine, because this is the only way I have have done it.

To adjust the belts from underneath the engine, you first need to be able to safely access the the underside of your engine with some room to work. The tools that you need are a set of metric wrenches and a set of metric sockets (I'm not sure what the exact sizes are, 8mm to 13mm should cover everything).

Once you get under your car, remove the bolts in the large plastic panel that is in between you and the belts, then remove the panel.

After the plastic panel is out of the way, the alternator should be hanging upside down on the lower right (passenger) side of engine just below the p/s pump. The alternator has two sets of mounts (feet) that are attached to two different brackets. The only mount we need to be concerned with is the adjustment foot (bottom mount). The adjustment foot is the single mount on the alternator that is facing towards the ground (It should be the one closest to you). Attached to the adjustment foot is the adjustment/swing bracket. Loosen (do not remove) the nut that runs through the adjustment foot AND the swing bracket.

Next, locate the tension bolt on the swing bracket that runs parallel to the swing bracket. Turning this bolt with a ratchet or wrench will allow you to adjust the tension in the alternator belt.

Note: You should not be able to twist the belt more than 90 degrees in any direction. Plus, if the belt shows signs of wear like cracks or missing threads, REPLACE IT.

Do not make the belt too tight. This may cause the belt to break, or damage the drive-end bearing in your alternator.

After the belt is tight enough, tighten the bolt that runs through the adjustment foot of the alternator and the swing bracket. Don't forget to tighten this bolt, or else your belt will become loose again.

Before you do anything else, you should start your car to make sure that the belt is not squealing. Rev it up slightly, like you would if you were accelerating.

If this solves your problem, reattach the plastic panel and that should do it.

If you need to adjust the tension in you A/C belt, leave the panel off and get back under the car.

The A/C belt adjusts at the idler pulley located below the A/C compressor. Both should be on the left (driver) side of the engine.

Once you locate the idler pulley, I am 99 percent sure you need to loosen the bolt in the middle of the pulley (DO NOT REMOVE THE BOLT OR THE PULLEY). If this is correct, which I am pretty sure about, you should be able to adjust the tension in the A/C belt with the bolt that is just below and behind the idler pulley. This is the same concept you used with the alternator belt.

Note: The tension and quality standards that apply to the alternator belt also apply to the A/C belt.

Once the belt is tight enough, secure the idler pulley by re-tightening the center bolt in the idler pulley.

Make sure the belt doesn't squeal and reattach the plastic panel.

If you have any more question, post them. I will check back tomorrow.Otherwise, good luck.

Dang!Thanks for such an intricate explanation on how to to the belts.

I was working on my EGR today when I saw that one of my belts was pretty messed up.So I jacked the car up and looked around, and it turned out that my A/C belt was just sort of missing one of the inside treads completely.

So I went to Kragen and got a new one, but when I came back to replace the belt, I realized that the power steering belt was right in the way.

Looked in my factory service manual to see how to get the PS belt off...but after loosening the nut I was supposed to, and playing with the adjustment screw, NOTHING would move.I looked around for any more bolts that I might have missed, but didnt see any.When I try to adjust the PS pulley, the bolt just moves up and down without moving the pulley!

So I ended up just cutting off the old A/C belt...and now I'm just waiting until I can figure out how to get the PS belt off.

Any thoughts?

THANKS!!!

do what i did, bought all three belts and said f it

I'm not sure why you are having problems with the p/s pump. I'll ask the techs at work to see if they have any ideas.

I talked to the techs today about your power steering pump. They offered me two suggestions.

1. The techs told me that sometimes there is more than one adjustment bracket on the power steering (one in the front and one in the back). I could not find any evidence that this is the case for the J30. Perhaps it is worth a look though.

2. They also said that sometimes in order for the pump to adjust, the mounting bolt needs to be slightly loosened. Start off with 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn. Do not remove the mounting bolt from the pump or bracket (especially if the belt is still on the pulley). You may also want to spray a small amount of penetrating spray (PB Blaster, etc.) on the bolt and nut that connect the p/s pump to the adjustment bar.

Make sure that you remember to tighten the mounting bolt if you do end up having to loosen it.

I WENT THROUGHT THE SAME ORDEAL AND FINALLY FOUND THE CURE....After replacing many of the belts with the best quality belts i could buy, i still had the squeeling. I went through all the steps that I have seen others post and still had squeeling. My final fix that worked was to replace the clutch fan.......It worked for me...haven't even had the slightest squeel yet. I wish i would have doen the clutch fan when I initially replaced the belts. I hope that this helps.

praxis469 wrote:I WENT THROUGHT THE SAME ORDEAL AND FINALLY FOUND THE CURE....After replacing many of the belts with the best quality belts i could buy, i still had the squeeling. I went through all the steps that I have seen others post and still had squeeling. My final fix that worked was to replace the clutch fan.......It worked for me...haven't even had the slightest squeel yet. I wish i would have doen the clutch fan when I initially replaced the belts. I hope that this helps.

thanks!!

mine started squealing while idleing. then it got to where its doing it while driving. . .

i need to get it fixed!!

how much was that clutch fan and do you have a oem part number for it?

I do not have the part number for it. I believe that I paid $85 for it but that also included the discount that I received by ordering it through a mechanic friend of mine.

well from all over i can only find the a/c compressor with the clutch and not the clutch itself... any help would be appreciated

The "clutch fan" is attached to the fan. If you were to remove the fan, the clutch is the metal louvered part that is attached to it. It expands and contracts according to engine temperature.

yea i figured that out, it's just to replace it i've been told you can't get the part by itself, you gotta get the whole a/c compressor with the clutch/clutch fan

I am not expert by any means but the setup might be different on my '95 compared to your '93 "t". My fan comes right off of the shaft.

I had the same thing...the mechanic tightened the belt, but with a warning that the pump may be going bad. The belt was squealing because the pulley was not turning properly.

It soon became difficult to turn, and replacing the pump cost about $600. Good luck!

from what I'm taking...it isnt the A/C compressor clutch...it's the cooling fan clutch...I think you're getting confused maybe.

got a pic? i may be off a little...

So, I know this is an old thread. The J30t in question squeals on startup and within just a few seconds there is a change in tone of the engine and the squeal stops. I think it is the cooling fan clutch since it only does it on first startup of the day when the engine is completely at ambient temperature. It doesn't do it at any other time during the day.

Thoughts?

I bet it's the belt that needs tightening or replacing...mine does it as well..
before you start try spraying some water on the belt, if it doesn't squeal, you know it's the belt

Well, an odd update. The squealing on startup has stopped with no changes whatsoever. The only change is we've had a warm spell and on those warm mornings, there is no squeal at all. Waiting until it cools off again and going to see what happens.

Niti QX4 wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 14, 2018 5:17 am

Well, an odd update. The squealing on startup has stopped with no changes whatsoever. The only change is we've had a warm spell and on those warm mornings, there is no squeal at all. Waiting until it cools off again and going to see what happens.

Well, the squealing is back. I'm going to get underneath it today and check the tightness of the belts and update after that. Thanks for all the info!

NismoDan wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 21, 2006 5:52 pm

Looked in my factory service manual to see how to get the PS belt off...but after loosening the nut I was supposed to, and playing with the adjustment screw, NOTHING would move.I looked around for any more bolts that I might have missed, but didnt see any.When I try to adjust the PS pulley, the bolt just moves up and down without moving the pulley!

There is a "pivot" bolt that might be too tight located behind the PS Pump Pulley. You access it through one of the holes in the PS Pulley.

So, I found the PS pump belt adjustment all the way at the end of it's range. The belt is a Gates 4 rib K040365 MICRO-V BELT Product # 85528672 that is specified by Gates on their site for the J30t.

Anyway, I checked the belt against the Gates specs online and the current belt has an outer circumference that is only stretched 1/8". So the belt is practically brand new and it looks like it too. Here is the link to their information: https://www.gates.com/us/en/ymm/search/ ... er=K040365

Based on the information I've found, that means this belt is not the correct size for this application. I am going to the Infiniti dealer within the next few days to get the OEM belt and compare the two. I am willing to bet that the OEM belt will be a little bit smaller and put the adjuster more in the middle instead of at the max point.

Once I do that, I think I may solve the squealing as right now, the problem has gone away since I took the PS Pump belt off....