V6 Serpentine Belt R&R

[stevewaclo]

Hello all,

My '08 SE is coming up on 65k so probably overdue for a new belt. As those who have already done this know, tensioning is done via a spring loaded idler so no belt adjustment is necessary.

The FSM section of our site does not seem to have a table of contents, so after going PDF by PDF through the sections, I found the 411 I needed here on page 121:

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/Altima/2008/em.pdf

Don't have the special tool for the tensioner nut, so will have to improvise. While the FSM shows doing this job from below, one video I found shows going in through the wheel well, but that means pulling the liner. From below, the splash guard. Did my Sierra Duramax from the top, but that's NA here.

I'm going to do this very soon, so anyone who has "been there-done that" is encouraged to weigh in with tips.

Best wishes.

Thanks to Mr. Music for getting me on the correct page of the FSM

Don't know what this emoticon means, but it's way cool and no one ever seems to use it!

[stevewaclo]

Mission accomplished!

Went down to O'Reileys and rented their serpentine belt removal tool and picked up a Gates Micro-V AT K070669 belt. Turns out, by going in through the passenger wheel well, a special tool is not needed. Here's what I did:

1) get the right side up on a jack stand and pull the wheel.

2) using an upholstery tool (looks like a flattened pickle fork) pop out the 5 retainers holding the lower access panel (the one you bend out when you replace your oil filter). The retainers can be a bear without a proper tool.

3) ID the tensioning pulley. It's about 11 o'clock from the oil filter and has a 13mm bolt in the center.

4) notice on the left side of the tensioner and attached to the tensioner base, an "ear" with a hole. Behind this hole, is a second hole, mounted on a plate attached to the side of the engine, that has to be aligned with the first hole to lock the tensioner.

5) find a bolt long enough to fit through both holes.

6) using the wrench and 13mm socket, turn the nut in the middle of the tensioner CW till the holes align, then insert the bolt from 5) to lock the tensioner. It's a hard pull, so you may want a short cheater on your wrench.

7) take a good look at the belt routing, and remove the old one. There is a diagram under the hood if you forget.

8) install the new belt, leaving the shiny idler pulley on the right till last. It's smooth and the belt will slide on easily.

9) be sure the belt is properly aligned over all the ribbed pulleys. It's easy to get off a rib, so check carefully.

10) use the socket wrench to again turn the tensioning pulley CW and remove the lock bolt you put in earlier.

11) double check that the belt is on all the pulleys correctly!

12) re-install the access plate.

I very much enjoy doing these jobs myself and it offers an opportunity to eyeball items that don't often get looked at. My CV boots look good!

The belt I removed looked pretty good. Deep grooves and no cracks, so I'm thinking it had considerable life left. Of course, most damage is internal, so 65k was a good time to do the swap.

Sorry for no pics, but this is a very easy job. Just wish I had a lift.

Best wishes.

[stevewaclo]

Just another point. The drawing in the PDF I linked does not look like what I found in my '08 V6, 6 sp. no biggy, since other than a different layout, the procedure is the same.

[SanoSuKe]

Thanks for the info man! Great DIY.

[stevewaclo]

De nada!

[Mr. Music]

"fwd.pdf" is the table of contents for the FSM (found that out the hard way). In the EM section of the FSM, page 16 is for the 2.5 engine; page 121 has the diagram for the 3.5 engine. I just changed the belt on my car a couple weeks ago and it seems like the process is pretty much the same for the two engines. I posted a how-to in the "Altima Engine, Drivetrain & Tuning" forum with some pictures in case anyone is thinking of doing it too. How hard was is for you to get the new belt on? Mine was super tight and I fought with it endlessly!

EDIT: here's the link to what I posted quick-how-to-drive-belt-change-on-l32-a ... 79969.html

[stevewaclo]

Mr. Music,

Thanks for clearing things up!

Always gotta be suspicious of a poster who doesn't know a 4 from a 6 .

No wonder things looked different when I went in!

Some Forums I participate in have an option to leave a trail of breadcrumbs using keywords for future knowledge seekers and I obviously chose the wrong search terms or would have discovered your excellent write up.

Thanks for ID'ing the table of contents. Suspected it had to be there somewhere.

When the FSM refers to "the left engine cover", I presume that refers to the fender well access panel. I would have used that term. "Cover" had me poking around on the top, till it became obvious there was no going in from that direction.

My belt went in with little drama. I started by laying it over the top pulleys and as mentioned, slid it over the smooth idler last. Must have been a small difference in belt lengths that caused your struggle.

Thanks again for clearing things up and your excellent pictures.

Best wishes.

[stevewaclo]

Another quick question.

Wondering about the "turn the crankshaft to equalize pressure part"?

I didn't do that since I'm too lazy and figured I know more than Nissan engineers anyway :-).

It would seem the belt would self-adjust on start-up and I really don't want to go in again. Obviously, Nissan would not include the step if it is unnecessary (unless the author was being paid by the word :-). Thoughts?

Best wishes.

[Mr. Music]

Steve,

Your welcome. The search can sometimes be hit or miss depending on the wording you use; doesn't help when one thing has a bunch of different names like in this case. I've searched for stuff before, found nothing, posted a thread, and then gotten replies with links to threads about the same thing haha.

When the FSM refers to the "left engine cover" I also assume it means the cover in the wheel well. I'm pretty sure that the part about turning the crank is overkill, but it was in the FSM so I didn't anyway. The pressure on the belt will equalize once the engine starts obviously but they may have included that to prevent the belt from stretching if it gets a bit hung up on one of the pulleys or something.

[stevewaclo]

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