Advice needed re. Changing belts on TDi 4.2

[Cuppa]

G'day all,
I've bought the 3 replacement belts & am hoping to fit them this weekend. I can see where the adjustment points are for two of the belts (alternator & power steering) but for the life of me cannot see where the adjustment point is for the air con belt (the inner most one of the three). Not a lot of room in there. The only possibility I thought of is a 12mm bolt head on top of the idler pulley, but when I loosened it off the belt didn't loosen, so I tightened it back up again.

So can anyone tell me how I loosen & tighten the air con belt?

Thanks

Cuppa

[threedogs]

Hi Cuppa just reading manual all it says [no pics] is loosen adjusting bolts, and re tension with large screwdriver

[nissannewby]

The 3rd pulley (small one) is the adjustment one. You undo the nut in the centre of the pulley and there will a 10 bolt head just behind the top of the pulley this is your adjustment :)

[nissannewby]

Just loosen the nut don't undo it all the way

[Cuppa]

Thanks 3D, it's trying to suss out which are the adjusting bolts that I'm struggling with! I can see the pivot bolts on top of the air con unit, & a couple of bolts underneath, but I'm not 100% convinced that the underneath ones are going to let me move anything if I loosen them ...... But maybe they will ........ Hopefully someone who's done it might confirm?

Living out in the sticks & 30kms from the nearest mechanic workshop, I want to be sure of what I'm doing before I get started.

Regards
Cuppa.

[threedogs]

Newby has pointed out where you need to be looking maybe you both replied at the say time

[Cuppa]

The 3rd pulley (small one) is the adjustment one. You undo the nut in the centre of the pulley and there will a 10 bolt head just behind the top of the pulley this is your adjustment :)

At the risk of appearing thick, I need to clarify your advice.
1. Are you referring to the idler pulley?
2. Do you mean that I need to loosen the large nut in the middle of the pulley (facing forward) & then adjust with the smaller bolt on top?

Regards
Cuppa

[nissannewby]

Yes that's it mate thats where you adjust them. Good pic too :)

[nissannewby]

The nut I think is either 22 or 24 mm and the adjuster bolt is 10 or 12. If my memory is correct it's 22 and 12 for the size socket spanner required

[Cuppa]

Well the job's done, but of course nothing is ever straightforward.
No problem removing the belts ( confirm what NissanNewby said, air con belt adjuster needs 22mm & 12mm sockets).
However when I went to fit the new air con belt ... that's when things started to challenge me a bit. No problems getting the belt onto the pulleys, but nothing I did resulted in a tight belt. I thought maybe I'd over loosened the big nut on the adjuster, & was close to trying to remove the complete adjuster of the front of the motor, not an easy task given the tight clearances & tight bolts. Luckily I saw sense before I went that far & instead refitted the old belt, which tensioned up like a charm! The belt that had been supplied was too long! I phoned Supercheap where I bought it & they again checked their computer & confirmed that the belt they had given me was correct for the TD42. "No it's not" I said in as a restrained manner as I could muster, recognizing it was not the little girl's fault, but rather a problem with the Bosch catalogue. "Although it means a 70km round trip, I'm coming in with all three of the old belts & if you can't match them I want my money back & I'll go to Autobarn instead.
Once in the shop the girl, & her manager, agreed that the supplied belt, listed as correct in the Bosch catalogue was too big. When old & new were compared the one for the power steering was also too big (although to be fair there is more adjustment available for that belt) & the alternator belt was fine.

The Bosch catalogue says the air con belt is a 13A0980. Meaning 980mm long. The one I have successfully fitted is 965mm long. Interestingly, when I later went to Autobarn who stock Gates belts, their Gates catalogue listed a 950mm belt for the air con.
Bosch list a 1270mm belt for the alternator. I fitted a 1230. Would probably get away with a 1245 or 1250, but I doubt there would be sufficient adjustment for a 1270mm belt. (I didn't try & don't know if the 100amp alternator is standard or not).

Moral of the story, don't accept what the catalogue says, take your old belts, or the numbers off them with you when buying new ones,

Cuppa

[nissannewby]

I also have this written down. If I wasnt up at work I would have been able to get you the numbers as well. Glad that in the end it all worked out :)

[nissannewby]

Also did it get rid of the noise you were concerned about?

[Cuppa]

Yep, the canary has flown away thanks. The pulley bearings all felt nice & smooth.

Cuppa

[jet]

Aircon belts on TD 42 are a problem, theres a few different sizes, even Nissan parts team have trouble with VIN numbers supplied