drive belts squeakin'..do now or when i do timing belt

[Qxxx4]

so my drive belts are squeakin a little when in idle. when i drive it for a bit and go back in idle, no more squeak. Ive never changed the belts yet and im at 135k kms, due for a change. My question is I will be changing my timing belt and waterpump in another 25k, should i just wait to do them then, will I save on labour?

[Lars]

Depends on how bad the belts are. You should have them replaced when you do the timing belt, unless they had been replaced recently. If the belts are not missing chunks, you can remove them and clean them with soapy water then reinstall. This will give a bit more life out of the belts. If they are missing chunks out of the ribs then replace them.

[Qxxx4]

nah their definately worn, Nissan quoted me $250 for belts, and $1350 for timing belt, waterpump, and the $250 for those belts...just curious if its alot of extra labour costs if i do drive belts at different instances than timing belt.

btw, by drive belts, they mean the ones that control the A/C, water pump, alternator, etc right? and timing belt is for engine timing?

how difficult is replacing these parts, should I only go to the dealer or could a local midas/shop do the job just as good...

ps....not doing this myself, so dont ask why not lol lubes, liquids, minor part changes Im ok with, but im not touching that engine.

[Lars]

btw, by drive belts, they mean the ones that control the A/C, water pump, alternator, etc right? and timing belt is for engine timing?

how difficult is replacing these parts, should I only go to the dealer or could a local midas/shop do the job just as good...

ps....not doing this myself, so dont ask why not lol lubes, liquids, minor part changes Im ok with, but im not touching that engine.

Right, drive belts are for the A/C, ALT, P/S, and water pump. Timing belt is for the cam shafts.

The belts are not difficult. If you feel comfortable doing the oil, the belts should be pretty easy for you. You do not have to 'open the engine' or anything like that. The only danger would be over or under tensioning the belts, but that is pretty obvious. Either way the only damage would be throwing a belt which would set off a bunch of idiot lights on your dash. You want about 1" movement in the belt once you have it tensioned (1/2" up/down).

The reason it is recommended when doing the timing belt is that the belts have to be removed when doing the timing belt anyways, so your mechanic SHOULD only charge you for the belts and no additional labor. At that point in time it is cheap insurance.

[Empty V]

nah their definately worn, Nissan quoted me $250 for belts, and $1350 for timing belt, waterpump, and the $250 for those belts...just curious if its alot of extra labour costs if i do drive belts at different instances than timing belt.

btw, by drive belts, they mean the ones that control the A/C, water pump, alternator, etc right? and timing belt is for engine timing?

how difficult is replacing these parts, should I only go to the dealer or could a local midas/shop do the job just as good...

ps....not doing this myself, so dont ask why not lol lubes, liquids, minor part changes Im ok with, but im not touching that engine.

I think I might tackle this when it's time for a change. I had a bearing go in my rad fan and if my belt didn't give out it would have been thrown right into the block. That potentially could trash a lot of stuff. I'd check to see how those bearings are holding up while in there. Another improvement on the 3.5 is the timing chain, never needs to be replaced.

Billy

[W O T]

Brian defientely dont pay $250 for the drive belts. I did both of mine earlier this year and its only like a 40 minute job, and all I did was simply take the belts off and bring them to napa, both belts were under $20 a piece

You may not even need to replace them, when I had some squealing in the winter, all it took was a little more tension on the belt, check how cracked the inside of the belts are before replacing anything

[Qxxx4]

Brian defientely dont pay $250 for the drive belts. I did both of mine earlier this year and its only like a 40 minute job, and all I did was simply take the belts off and bring them to napa, both belts were under $20 a piece

You may not even need to replace them, when I had some squealing in the winter, all it took was a little more tension on the belt, check how cracked the inside of the belts are before replacing anything

$20 a piece? damn

[W O T]

You can even get the cheaper belts that are like $13 for the generic brand, but I stick with gator belts for the extra couple bucks, my dad swears by them on his race car so he kinda just passed it on to me lol

[slickroger]

i just did this recently also i have the timing chain so i didny have to touch that.

the tensioners are very easy to work with on mine there just one nut from the bottom that release and add tension.

if you want help im always messing with my truck and please dont pay anyone $250 heck if you want pay me $20 and we could get high to

[Qxxx4]

hahaha i might take you up on that offer

[Empty V]

if you want help im always messing with my truck and please dont pay anyone $250 heck if you want pay me $20 and we could get high to

Come down to so-cal I'll show you where it's at!

Billy

[Johnsonsrt10]

i did mine at a local auto shop in town about a year ago, did both belts, and etc for 326 labor and all. its worked great for me, i got quoted 1400 at the infiniti dealer, and 1000 at the nissan dealer...

[wildlifekid]

You change your belts when you have more than 3 to 5 cracks per inch on the belt.. If you don't see any cracks then don't worry about changing them.. Sum squealing is find but sometimes the belts are just loose and need to be tighten up..

Hope this helps.

[Qxxx4]

thanks! i still havent had the chance to look at it but the last time I looked it appeared to have quite a few cracks. Ive never changed it before and ive been maintaining the car since 60k kms, now its at 136k kms, so I dont want to risk it any longer.

Im going to get a quote at midas/other shops to see cost of timing belt/water pump/drive belts and see if its a huge difference from nissan like johnsonsrt if so ill do it next month (due to change timing belt in another 24k anyways)

[02pathy]

timing belt is around 80 t0 100k up to 120k, 150k if u wanna push it but if i were u, i would do everything in one shot, sooner than later to be on the safe side , if u didn't have the timing belt i would've said leave the water pump and just change the belts, but i wouldn't play with the timing belt unless i can see the condition of it,