Did i break something?

[hackysack]

J30 is my first car, so when the battery stop taking charge, and i was told it was the alternator belt, I figured I would just replace, so I got the belt and jacked up the car, looked under it, found the alternator belt, the threads of the belt were torn so i was pretty sure i had the right culprit.

Unfortuantly, i have no idea how to change the belt,

I found this:zerothread/297616

and thought the tensioner was the long screw behind the pulley of the second belt, I loosened that up and thought i was in success because the belt comes off easily now. I saw a similar system for the first smaller belt on the upper passenger side (battery side, left side if I amm looking a the car, sorry my terminology is poor with this stuff) and i tried to loosen that the same way, but nothing loosened, I did the same with the long screw in the system under the alternator for the third belt (which i think is the one I am supposed to replace) and still, nothing loosens like the second belt did.

Now I am reading that the tensioner is not the screw at all, but the bolt on the pulley? I'm not sure, and i am also hearing something about having to recalibrate my stuff, did i make a big mistake? If someone has a picture of what im supposed to turn I would appreciate it!

Thanks in advance!

[Victor]

That second belt is for the power steering pump. I couldn't get my pump to move either, even after I completely removed the adjustment mechanism and losened every bolt I could see that might be holding the power steering pump. I have a J30T which probably uses a different power steering pump due to the four wheel steering, so I don't know if you would have the same problem. I finally just pried the power steering belt off the pulleys and reinstalled the old belt when finished by prying it back on. The easiest belt to change is the air conditioner belt. The waterpump/alternator belt is kind of hard because you have to get the other two belts off first. Because of the problems I was having with my power steering belt I had to end up removing the fan, radiator hoses, and radiator cowling, as well as the battery so I could get a pry bar in there, with which I still couldn't move the power steering pump. Really a crappy design, the Infiniti design engineers should be ashamed of themselves.

[SteveTheTech]

Welcome to Nico's J Forum.

Before attempting ANY repair on your car please read the maintenance section of the J30 ESM, Page MA-10 gives you a pictorial walk through of how to do this. Beware though that if you are attempting something you are not confident in it may be a financially responsible idea to pay someone to do this. Replacing only one belt is a waste of time the belts are relatively inexpensive and can be bought at any parts store if so desired and if you are going to go through the work why not do the job the right way and have all new belts, less making the likelihood of another trip under the car for the same repair as there is not much room under there.

If you are letting the belts get to the point where they are freying to the point of near breakage I suspect you have some other issues with your car and may want to look into if you are planning on keeping this car for any period of time.

Do not take this as an unfriendly welcome, Since you are new to the forum I want to let you in on the reality of keeping a 15 year old Infiniti safely on the road. Good Luck.

[Victor]

The Infiniti repair manual is just about useless as far as changing the belts go. The only thing it shows is the location of the adjustment bolts and the belt tensions. No actual procedure. In fact the whole repair manual sucks compared to ones put out by GM, Haynes, and especially compared to military tech manuals.

[hackysack]

I haven't had much luck finding any useful manual for my J30, but i did manage to get all the belts replaced, I start the car and it sat there for about 15 minutes idle, then gave out, and I couldn't start it again, i think my alternator is bad, looks like i get to go back under the hood, but question, should i bother doping the radiator?

[SteveTheTech]

The Infiniti repair manual is just about useless as far as changing the belts go. The only thing it shows is the location of the adjustment bolts and the belt tensions. No actual procedure. In fact the whole repair manual sucks compared to ones put out by GM, Haynes, and especially compared to military tech manuals.

I have to disagree with you I have been using these manuals as crucial job assistance for years and if you know how to decipher what they want you to do. The information was originally written (in Japanese) for their technicians who most of them have some post graduate education in mechanics or engineering. They do not really walk you through the basics, although if you take a look at theGeneral Information, this will give you a rough idea of what you should know before taring into diagnosing your car.

Putting the belts on is pretty straight forward you need to follow the images in MA-10 in the link I provided earlier and loosen the locking nut/bolt depending on the belts and loosen the adjusting rod. Also the pivot component securing bolt needs to be loosened to get the alternator,or power steering pump. The idler pulley is different it has the 14mm nut and a tension adjuster bolt that takes a 12mm head socket. Having access to the bottom of the car is crucial to get this doing this on your back is a PITA and I would not recommend it unless you have no access to a lift. A word of advice is to remove the lower section of the fan shroud by releasing the plastic locking tabs and carefully pulling it out. This will give you enough access to get the alternator belt around the fan.

Keep in mind that if your alternator belt is damaged it also runs your water pump!