Noisy Belt

[nickpeacock36]

Hi All. The belt on myzd30 has started to make a screeching sound which stops eventually when everthing has warmed up. The belt looks/feels alright but maybe its worn out anyway. is this common? how long do the belts normally last? and is it an easy job to replace? lastly should i buy genuine Nissan?
Any help greatly appreciated.

[YNOT]

If you're in any doubt about the condition of the belt, replace it. It's just not worth risking your engine. I would be getting either genuine Nissan or a good quality aftermarket belt like a Gates belt.

Easy to do, remove the fan shroud and engine fan so it looks like the one in the photo. Draw a mud map of the belt routing for future reference.
You will find a spot on the tensioner arm (I can't remember if it fits a spanner or a ratchet, I'll look tonight and confirm) to release tenion on the belt. Slip the old belt off and check the tensioner pully (partly obscured by the fan hub in pic) bearing condition. It should spin freely and smoothly.


Also use a mirror to check the bushes on each end of the tensioner ram for wear as shown in second photo.
Assembly is the reverse of removal.



Tony

[rkinsey]

It may not be the belt but a bearing on any one of the pulleys.

In the olden days.... a temporary fix was to rub a bar of hand soap against the inside of a noisy belt. But this is only a temp fix for the noise and the belt and pulleys should be checked at the first opportunity.

Cheers,

Rob

[nickpeacock36]

I was having a look last night and pushed on the belt to see if the tensioner was moving freely which it was, the screeching has since stopped. im thinking that something had jammed in and fallen out when i flexed the tensioner. I love easy fixes. I will have to have a proper look at the bushes though as Ynot suggested.

[nickpeacock36]

Tony Thank you very much for the pictures by the way. I cant believe how helpful people on this site are.biggrin:

[claw45]

exceptional information given with such generosity-- Tony you are a GEM. --- Jim

[jimako]

To determin if its your belts,
Use a hose and spray some water on the belts with the engine running.
If the screeching stops instantly, It is your belts.

The screeching will come back straight away as soon as the belt dries up.

[suvrd28]

I had problems with the non genuine belts, got the genuine belt and lasted ages

[frenzy]

I just changed the belt on my GUIV 3L TD.

Here are a couple more tips to add to Tonys above if you are looking at doing this yourself.

1. The shroud comes out the top after you remove the little extension piece at the bottom rear. You have to get under the car anyway to remove the 2 bottom screws.
2. I found it heaps easier to remove the 4 bolts holding the fan on and getting it out of the way. Will save you some skin if you take the time to remove it.
3. The picture below shows which bolts you need to loosen/rotate/tighten.

Belt change.jpg

Don't forget to have a good look around while you are there. I found some sheared off bolts that are now on my list to replace

Cheers,

Steve