chelubi wrote:Just did both belts from the top. 20-30 minutes. One look at the pics on this link and you know exactly here the tensioner bolts are. No need to remove bottom cover. Unnecessary with the M35, perhaps better to do so with M45. Not everyone has a lift and you absolutely do not need one to do this quick repair.

This isn't a 'do it or else' HowTo. Just the way I did it. Lift/jack stands aren't required, but for me, they made the job easier.

IlyaKol wrote:Wow. Epic first post there. You're really winning.

Too each his own...it takes ME (on my lift with air tools) all of 2 minutes to remove the bottom cover. If someone wants/or chooses to skip that step, by all means. Do it, and make a 'better' HowTo.

The influx of spaz's in this subforum has made me less willing to take the time to document anything in the future.

Keep doing your thing Ilyakol. Don't let some dude with nothing else to do block your style. I'll be following these instructions this weekend and if I complete this job at my friends who has a lift I'll be taking off the deflector as well. It's just "smarter"!

I would like to share with you how to change the drive belt on my 09-M35 Infiniti and I have taken many pictures to show readers how to do it. It is not difficult to do -takes about 1hour-and the 2009 design is much simpler than earlier models and does not require removal of the lower pan. However I do not know how to load pictures in this forum-if someone would tell me how to do it I would gladly share my pictures with you.

Here's how to replace the drive belt on the 2009-M35 Infiniti. There is only one belt that is used to drive the alternator, power steering pump and AC compressor unlike the earlier models. All the work is done from above-no need to remove the dreaded plastic pan with a zillion screws below the oil sump. Much simpler design than earlier models. Kudos to Infiniti.
Tools Required - 10mm and 14 mm sockets with wrench and a long breaker bar with 3/8" drive, 1/4" Allen wrench
1. Remove the plastic panel above the radiator (using 10 mm socket wrench) to give yourself working room.
2. Locate the automatic belt tensioner pulley. It is the third pulley from the left hand side and is the one after the alternator pulley going from left to right. This pulley has a square hole at the bottom into which you should insert the 3/8" drive end of the breaker bar. (You can also use a regular socket wrench with drive but the breaker bar is longer, providing more leverage)
3. At the top of the auto tensioner pulley there is a 14 mm bolt which should be loosened - but not removed completely.
4. Using the breaker bar, turn in an anticlockwise direction so as to rotate the entire tensioner. You will require to provide much force because the tensioner is spring loaded and you are working against the spring.
5. As the tensioner assembly rotates (only a little bit about 10-15 degrees) you will notice that it has a small bracket at the top with a hole in it that lines up with a similar hole on the fixed side of the tensioner. When these holes line up take a 1/4" or smaller allen wrench and shove it in the holes. This then locks the tensioner and allows you to release pressure from the breaker bar.
6. The belt can then be taken off by hand because the tension has been released. Note carefully the routing of the belt around the pulleys so that you get it right when it is replaced.
7. Replace the belt-again by hand -with the new belt. You may have to force it a little because the new belt has not stretched and is tighter but be careful not to pinch your fingers- wear thin leather gloves to be on safe side and make sure the belt sits in the grooves of the pulleys. The taking off and replacment of the belt only takes about 5-10 minutes and the whole job should take about 1-1.5 hrs if you are meticulous and careful.
8. Remove the allen wrench by putting pressure again on the breaker bar -turn in same direction -anticlockwise and you should be able to slide it out of the holes. The tensioner will now return to its regular position and you will note that the belt is put under tension. Remember to tighten up the pulley bolt (14mm).
9. The rest is easy - just reverse what you did earlier.

Hope this procedure helps someone- I have been helped many times by the members on this excellent forum.

so quick question, is this the same process for a 2006 m45?

It's probably very similar, but that motor is different so it may have it's own nuances for how it's done. The general idea is the same.

TribalCBR wrote:so quick question, is this the same process for a 2006 m45?

First off, from way earlier in this thread:

The00Dustin wrote:Also, to veer back toward the topic, it should be noted (as was recently discussed in another thread) that the 06-07 M45 have auto-tensioners and there is a bolt on them that should not be loosened or they will have to be replaced (according to the FSM). The procedure for changing the belts on the M45 is therefore totally different.

Second, if you were referring to the recently mentioned 2009 M35 procedure that is different than the 06-07 M45 procedure, I don't recall loosening any bolt when I changed mine, but I do recall, as mentioned in my quote, a bolt that should NOT be loosened. I think it is the same bolt you use to move the auto-tensioner with, though, so I'm thinking that procedure is different as well.

ETA: Also, the 2009 M35 has one belt, the 2006 M45 has two belts, so that would be different, too.

EDIT 2: Changed M35 to M45 in one place. The 2006-2007 M45 procedure is different than the 2006-2007 M35 procedure.

For 2006 era 3.5L engines with two belts...

You MUST loosen the 14mm bolts in the centers of the idler pulleys or THEY WILL NOT MOVE when you try to back off the tensioner screw.
After swapping the belts, snug down the 14mm bolt but dont tighten. Start the engine for 15-20 seconds, shut off and recheck tension--make final adjust. THEN finish tighten to torque spec (anyone know what it is?). Can use a Krikit belt tension gauge, or just wiggle the the belt until your calibrated fingers think it is tight enough. Don't go overboard. It will stretch a bit over time.

I did this all from above and to see what I was doing used a 6" hand mirror, laying down on the undercowl, pointing up at the tensioner bolts. No biggie. Took all of 20 min.

TribalCBR wrote:so quick question, is this the same process for a 2006 m45?

I know this is more than a year old, but I found this thread first when searching how to replace the belts on my '06 M45 so I thought I'd add how it's done since it seems to differ from the M35. I did mine in poor light in the garage in about 30 minutes. It's easy and doesn't require lifting the car, removing anything from the bottom, etc.

There are two belts. The longer belt is easily visible with the shorter is not easy to see but is easy to reach. The long belt is removed first, then the short. Replace in opposite order. Here is a diagram I found online:



1. Remove the two long plastic panels under the hood, to the left and right of the engine. One has the windshield washer fluid lid attached; you can pop that off first. These pop out from the front and side (there are marks that show where they attach) then pull forward. No tools required.
2. Remove air intake scoop, two 10mm bolts with phillips heads, pulls right out once the bolts are removed.
3. The small pulley to the left of center is the tensioner. Use a 12mm socket on the bolt in the center of the tensioner and turn counter-clockwise. It should have some resistance but it's not like breaking a bolt loose. With the wrench holding the tensioner, the belt will have slack and can be slipped off.
4. The lower large middle pulley has two sets of grooves. The back set of grooves is for the smaller belt. The tensioner is to the lower left of this pulley. There feel to be two bolts - one in the middle of the pulley (left) and one to the right; put the 12mm socket on the RIGHT of the two bolts and turn counter-clockwise to release tension and remove the belt.
5. Put the new smaller belt around the middle pulley and as much of the left pulley as possible. Turn the tensioner counter-clockwise and slip the belt over. Make sure all the grooves are properly aligned on the two pulleys where the grooves face the pulley (the grooves face AWAY from the tensioner).
6. Replace the longer belt. This is a bit more difficult to line up due to the number of pulleys and the tendency of new belts to want to twist, but it's symmetrical left to right so is easy to be sure you've got it correctly installed. Again make sure the belt is properly seated on the grooved pulleys.
7. Put the air intake scoop back on, then put on the two plastic engine bay covers back on.

That's it. I scraped my knuckle once on the upper radiator hose clamp, but I was told if you don't bleed you didn't do it right. All in all a very simple job and only cost about $35 for both at AutoZone.

ambradley wrote:

TribalCBR wrote:so quick question, is this the same process for a 2006 m45?

3. The small pulley to the left of center is the tensioner. Use a 12mm socket on the bolt in the center of the tensioner and turn counter-clockwise. It should have some resistance but it's not like breaking a bolt loose. With the wrench holding the tensioner, the belt will have slack and can be slipped off.
4. The lower large middle pulley has two sets of grooves. The back set of grooves is for the smaller belt. The tensioner is to the lower left of this pulley. There feel to be two bolts - one in the middle of the pulley (left) and one to the right; put the 12mm socket on the RIGHT of the two bolts and turn counter-clockwise to release tension and remove the belt.
5. Put the new smaller belt around the middle pulley and as much of the left pulley as possible. Turn the tensioner counter-clockwise and slip the belt over. Make sure all the grooves are properly aligned on the two pulleys where the grooves face the pulley (the grooves face AWAY from the tensioner).
6. Replace the longer belt. This is a bit more difficult to line up due to the number of pulleys and the tendency of new belts to want to twist, but it's symmetrical left to right so is easy to be sure you've got it correctly installed. Again make sure the belt is properly seated on the grooved pulleys.

Steps 3 through 6 are presumably slightly easier when you align the BOSS holes and insert a pin to hold the tensioners in the loose position (I believe the FSM suggests using specific allen wrenches as pins). Both of the auto tensioners that are being moved into loose positions in the steps above have this setup, so in steps 3 and 4 you can insert pins before removing belts, and in steps 5 and 6 you can remove pins after installing belts. Also, as I've mentioned in several places, the FSM specifically says not to loosen the bolts used to pull the auto-tensioners into the loose positions or the auto-tensioners will need replaced. However, one poster somewhere on this forum says he loosened one of those bolts and re-tightened it without issue.

ETA: I don't know why this information didn't make it into my previous two posts. Maybe it did but was moved to a sticky? Alternatively, I posted the same info somewhere else and never really reviewed this thread.

Dustin is right -

If you look at my pics from my DIY: how-to-change-your-belts-2006-07-m45-t592214.html
you can see the BOSS holes where you can stick an allen wrench in to lock the auto tensioner in place while you fit the belt around.

Again, I changed the larger belt from above, but I found it easier to change the smaller belt from below, maybe because of my huge, fat hands - lol.

I just picked up an 06 and needed to do the belts. Read this thread, excellent write up and very helpful.

I did it from the top, took me about 20 min. I am however, very mechanically inclined.

One note, I used a socket wrench on the bottom of the tensioner bolt to loosen it. Was as easly as the wratchet wrench.

Thank you OP for making the thread!
Aj

1BADBURB wrote:I just picked up an 06 and needed to do the belts. Read this thread, excellent write up and very helpful.

I did it from the top, took me about 20 min. I am however, very mechanically inclined.

One note, I used a socket wrench on the bottom of the tensioner bolt to loosen it. Was as easly as the wratchet wrench.

Thank you OP for making the thread!
Aj

Not sure why you added that first sentence...are we still debating the top or bottom approach? Has nothing to do with mechanical inclination. Has everything to do with the fact that I have a lift in my garage and chose to use it. Like I told the other guy who posted about the approach, if you don't like it, don't use it. A lift is not required to do it just how I did it (in order to get good pictures and also because, again, I have a lift handy).

From the bottom, the bolt is visible, therefore easier to work on. That is a fact. Anything you can see is easier to work with...

Anyway, glad you found the post useful.

I REALLY appreciate this thread, and it's intention to help others. One size does not fit all and attitude needs to stay where it belongs.

The belts - I am going to do them, and since I am also putting on a tollbothwilley skid guard, I will have access to them both top and bottom. As a (former) boat mechanic, I have learned to do things from the top! But you can't get the skid plate off from up there so...

After the skid plate goes on who knows? Maybe oil changes with no jacking?

What do I want now? A lift in my frikkin garage!!

Is $63+ shipping a fair price for both belts?

TDot wrote:Is $63+ shipping a fair price for both belts?

Yeah, I'd say so. I don't remember what I paid though...compare the price to your local AutoZone, Pepboys, O'Reilly's price...

Should I even bother to change it if I'm not having any issues? I'm at 91k with no squealing or anything, it hasn't been changed before...if it has it was before 60K. Should i simply wait for it to start making noise?I haven't visually inspected it though, will do that later.

Inspect it, if they are cracking change ASAP. If that thing snaps, it could break stuff in your engine bay (plastics, harnesses, etc.). I don't think our motors are interference, but on my Mom's 2002 Subaru Legacy, the belt tensioner broke and the belt went with it...ended up bending the valves, etc. requiring an engine rebuild.

Don't take chances. It's an easy enough job and not terribly expensive.

Definately easier taking off the bottom cover because of the tensioner on the drivers side. I was able to do the tensioner on the passenger side from the top though. You dont have to entirely remove the bottom cover, the back 4 screws can stay on and just hang.

IlyaKol wrote:Inspect it, if they are cracking change ASAP.

Exactly right!

Z

How many belts are there? Specific names?

-2006 M35x

NYK45 wrote:How many belts are there? Specific names?

-2006 M35x

No offense, but did you even read the post? Not only does it state that there are two (plus you can clearly see two in the images) but it gives OEM part numbers of each belt. In the first few paragraphs of the first post.

All that wasted text to answer the question anyway.

Thank you kind man.

NYK45 wrote:All that wasted text to answer the question anyway.

Thank you kind man.

You have to understand the flip side of the coin. I moderate two M sub-forums. I put in a lot of work to make sure information such as this is easy to find (which is why I created the FAQ thread and spent weeks looking for threads to add to that list). Most of the other NICO sub-forums don't have such a thread. Regarding your question, that information was easy to find.

I respect all members...but they also need to do some of their own leg work/research before posting up. That's how forums work. Or rather, should work. Otherwise, you get 1000 threads about the same thing or asking the same questions. I'm sorry, but it irks me when people don't bother to take 5 minutes of their own time to find the answer and expect someone else to just provide it for them. Many of us on here have made some detailed threads in an effort to make that information easy to find (see this thread).

No disrespect, but you have to understand the other side of the coin. Hope you stick around, this place has a ton of useful information contributed by many members. Perhaps one day you can also create a HowTo for something the community needs.

Ilya wrote:

chelubi wrote:Just did both belts from the top. 20-30 minutes. One look at the pics on this link and you know exactly here the tensioner bolts are. No need to remove bottom cover. Unnecessary with the M35, perhaps better to do so with M45. Not everyone has a lift and you absolutely do not need one to do this quick repair.

This isn't a 'do it or else' HowTo. Just the way I did it. Lift/jack stands aren't required, but for me, they made the job easier.

I just changed my belts and I did it going from the top. It took me some time simply because 1) I'm super slow when doing these type of activities the first time and 2) because reaching the tensioner on the right was a bit time consuming. I can definitely see the benefit of going at this from the bottom. I would imagine getting to the tensioner bolts would be much easier. Nevertheless, this was not that difficult going at it from the top. I'd imagine if I have to do this again it would be a 20-30 minute job.

This thread definitely was a huge help. Thanks to all!!