Called Infiniti on Thursday noon they were out of cars. Called again on Friday early am they were out of loaner cars again. Made an appointment on Monday 9am.
Driving home on Friday I heard a loud bang and the battery light and brake light lit up.
I limped it into a hospital parking lot and popped the hood. The drivers side idler pulley was gone!
I walked back to where I heard the noise and recovered it from the middle of the road. The bearing was completely siezed. I left it until Sunday. On Sunday I went to a Nissan dealer and Infiniti dealer that have a parts department that was open. There were no idler pulleys in all of AZ. I went to Autozone and bought a pulley for a Maxima that has the same bearing in it. Pressed the new bearing our of the new pulley. Pressed the old bearing out of the old pulley. Pressed the new bearing into the old pulley. I had to pound the stud out of the old pulley and damaged some of the threads. I used a rethreading tool on the old stud and on the timing chain cover of the motor. I threaded the old pulley back onto the car. The pulley still floated up and down the stud. There is a spacer that I could not find that left the car at 6000 rpm.
I had the car towed to a Infiniti dealership. 2 days and $560 later I have a new idler pulley and belt. The pulley is only $120 so if you hear a whine from your motor you can save $440 and replace it yourself if you can find the pulley.
