Squealing Belts!

[xschug3]

So, every morning I've gone out and started my '01 LE, the belts have squealed when starting it up.

The first time it did it, I shot it off and applied belt conditioner to the belts and then started it up again.
It was much quieter and stopped almost immediately. However, it's still been squealing. It only squeals right when I start the engine and it squeals for maybe 2-5 seconds. The belts have been replaced and have approx 400 miles on them.

What should I try next? Can anyone tell me what this means?

Thanks in advance.

-xs

[ARKQX33V6]

Replace belts and clean the crap off of the sheaves, then tighten the belts about a week later and inspect the alignment. Make sure the belts and sheaves are aligned. Stop using belt conditioners, that crap is only a temporary fix as you discovered.

[xschug3]

Sorry what are the sheaves?

[yeldogt]

The belts need to be surprisingly tight on the Pathfinder - I would bet they were not tightened correctly.

That is assuming that you have the correct belt and the pulleys are not all gunked up -- why did you replace the belts?

Also - don't use the belt dressing -- its not needed.

[edogg27]

i have that same problem right after i had the drive belts replaced... so i was told it probably needs the tensioner adjusted so im taking it back to the dealer to have them adjust it for free ill let u know if that works.

[xschug3]

Edogg, please let me know if the tensioner adjustment takes care of it. If that works for you then I will try that and hopefully quiet these belts up.
Thanks!

[yeldogt]

Did you check the belt to see if it was tight?

The car does not have tensioners? It has idler pulleys -- the adjustments are manual.

You can see both of the tightening screws -- easy to do on a lift.

If you wait too long to fix this you may glaze the belts -- take it back to whoever did them!

[xschug3]

For some reason, all day today the belts have not squealed once. It's much warmer today than it has been. It's currently ~60 degrees out as opposed to 40-50, which is what it's been all week.
I wonder if the temperature warming up is the reason?

[xschug3]

Also, I checked both belts and they both are tight. Neither one seems loose or has much play in it.
I'm not sure what the deflection specs are but there is very little deflection in both belts.

[edogg27]

mine hasent been sqeeking due to the weather either so the dealer said they cant take a look till it starts up again maybe when it cold

[ARKQX33V6]

Sheaves = pulley
Belts when new need time to stretch a little and form fit the curves of the pulley they ride on. They may need re-adjustment in about 1-4 weeks, depends on temperature and how long the belts were stored, on a shelf vs. hanging on a hook. Never use belt dressing, if you do you must clean up the pulleys.

[xschug3]

To follow up on this post- this past weekend I decided to just take it up to my local mechanic and have him put it on a lift to tighten the belts. After investigating, he noticed that the alternator belt was as tight as it could go. So he pulled the belt off and come to find out, the belt was the wrong belt- a 1/2 inch to long.
So, they ordered me the proper belt ($20) and slapped it on, tightened properly. No more squeals for me.
They told me to bring it back in a week and they'd re-tighten it for free in case it's stretched some.

[yeldogt]

I'm not sure why people just don't do things the easy way and order maintenance parts from one of the online Nissan dealers. You get the correct quality parts and many of them are no more expensive than anyplace else. I just ordered the two belts $14.45 and $16.11 the air filter was $14.70 -- oil filter was $5.50 - wiper inserts are $5.61 each. I also bought the factory brake pads for $61.00 - I could have gone cheaper but the factory ones give you 65K. I did not get the factory rotors because the best price was around $90.00 each plus shipping -- so I went with german made Zimmermann $109 for 2 / with free shipping. I keep a running list for all my cars and if they have free shipping at a certain point I wait until I reach that level.

[sicwitit]

+1 yeldogt, belts from nissan are the only option we should be using.

check your filters, recently Nissan outsourced its filters to a company in China, and are no longer made by Denso Japan. I'm almost positive the quality went down when this happened. I'm sure they are still operate up to SAE requirements when operated in a normal maner. Why skimp on a filter though, its the lifeblood of your engine. Napa Gold, Wix, Bosch, Moble 1, and puralator all make awesome filters (Wix and Moble 1 are my top 2).

[donald]

I know belts are a definite possibility, but I heard bad fan-clutches could case belt squealing also?

Either the clutch is improperly "too tight" or something making the belt squeal.

What I've noticed is that my Qx4 occasionally doesn't start on the first key-turn, as if something is binding up (maybe a bad starter?)
Upon 2nd key-turn, engine will surely fire up (so far - knock on wood!), but follows with a giant 5-10second squeal just like the belt squeals.
This is the only time the belt squeals (ie. on 2nd startup when 1st attempt fails/binds-up).
Usually happens when its cold out (~35-40'F/2'c-5'c)
Doesn't happen all the time.

Nonetheless, next time this happens, I need to take the cold, and go out and check what's happening.

[donald]

I recently finished cleaning and greasing my 2 idler pulleys 3-days ago. The weather has been rather cold here, nearing 1'C/30'F for the past few nights. No squealing from the engine bay on ANY of the startups (ie. morning starts while in garage, starts in the cold while sitting out for more than 5hr, etc).

It was rather simple to do.
Took the undercarriage protector (ie. that piece that needs to come down when changing oil filter) off.
Reached up and loosened the nut holding the pulley to the pulley-mount just loose enough to release it from the moung, but not completely off.
Then started lowing the pulley to relieve tension in the belt.
I did 1 pulley at a time to avoid mixing spacers and other plates from mixing between the AC compressor idler pulley and the Alternator idler pulley.

Each pulley had a washer and a spacher on both sides of the pulley.
I believe the Alternator pulley did not have a "washer" or "plate" (not sure what the official name is) and only a spacer on the inside - ie. the side of the pulley that makes contact with the pulley mount.

Anyway, Hopefully the squeals stay away.

[bleasure07]

I know belts are a definite possibility, but I heard bad fan-clutches could case belt squealing also?

Either the clutch is improperly "too tight" or something making the belt squeal.

What I've noticed is that my Qx4 occasionally doesn't start on the first key-turn, as if something is binding up (maybe a bad starter?)
Upon 2nd key-turn, engine will surely fire up (so far - knock on wood!), but follows with a giant 5-10second squeal just like the belt squeals.
This is the only time the belt squeals (ie. on 2nd startup when 1st attempt fails/binds-up).
Usually happens when its cold out (~35-40'F/2'c-5'c)
Doesn't happen all the time.

Nonetheless, next time this happens, I need to take the cold, and go out and check what's happening.

I just bought a 99 qx4 and it seems like it is squealing due to the fan clutch much like what you posted. Did you ever do anything to solve the problem with your Qx4? If so, what did you have done/do?

Thanks