Drive Belts
 

Well I'm going to be ordering all 3 belts. I'm tired of hearing the squeeking. I don't know which belt is causing the squeeking. Is there a website you recommend in buying the belts? I don't plan on buying at the dealer because around here it's pretty pricey. I have the stock pulley. So far i think the best place is Concept Z Performance.

i have a sqweeky belt too!! god i hate it, it sqweeks at idle untill i rev up the engine and then sometimes it sqweeks when i downshift into second and first.

yea for me it really depends on the weather. when it's cold(like right now) it squeeks for like 15 secs. if i rev it the thing squeeks louder. but when it's warm or hot the squeeks aren't that long. lasts about 5 secs.

right at the top of this section there a general z info sticky. just click on it and youll see a lot online retailers there. good luck bro!

https://www.zdriver.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8434

i guess my best stop is Coz. before i buy i'm going to try tightening the belts to see if they stop squeeking. the belts still look like they're in good condition.

i got mine from auto zone... no squeeking or anything....

more than likeyl that's your tbelt tensioner, not your belts.

Tighten the belts first. If it goes away, it could just be because they're not on tight enough.

And while I normally recommend OEM belts, I've had no trouble with my autozone AC belt (I needed it on a Sunday to fix my AC system and recharge it, no dealerships were open, so I took a chance and haven't regretted it)

I'd first say, that if you don't know how old the belts are, just replace them. Then you won't have to worry about them for a few years. btw: I replace all belts & hoses every four years whether they need it or not. No breakdowns for me. :) The nissan belts that I priced thru courtesy are pretty competitive. Other than nissan, I'd only use the Gates brand, which are also a little less expensive.

But then, properly tightening your old belts should fix the squeaking problem.

To this day,....I have never heard a timing belt squeal.

I can guarantee that it has nothing to do with your timing belt. It is one of your three drive belts. It's either worn out, loose or dirty.

REad closer, I said the timing belt tensioner.....if you haven't heard it happen on a Z before, you either have been around a lot of lucky Z owners or you haven't been around a lot of different Z's. It's very common. My old Z did it. It squels for the first 15 sec or so when cold and then goes away. It doesn't harm anythign, but it can be annoying. If you want to fix it, plan on changing your timing belt early and spending an extra $200.

TO this day, neither have I ever heard a timing belt squeel from being loose. and I've delt with 3 loose timing belts in Z's (one being my own). Timing belts do not squeel when they're loose. They flop around (but not squeel). And it can hurt something, something in a big way....

It's a drive belt that is squeeling.
The way I figure out which one, is i spray belt dressing on each one till it semi-stops. Although this won't solve the problem, it helps isolate which one needs to be tigthened.

he said (twice) timing belt TENSIONER, not the timing belt itsself.

THANK YOU!!! Please read the post before replying to it.

timing belt tensioners don't squeel either.... it has nothign to do with the timing belt or related parts / accessories...

All the timing belt tensioner does is keep the timing belt tight. Let me provide an analogetic example.

Your alternator belt is squeeling. This is caused by the tensioner being too loose. So you adjsut the tensinoer to tighten the belt.

The timing belt tensioner being too loose (which is rare, it's usually an operator error and ou ahve to replace the whole thing since it's a hydrolic tensioner) cause the timing belt to be too loose. It would not squeel, you would just hear the belt flopping around under the covers...

check out the buying guide, #9.
http://zhome.com/
I had to go find this since I've known it from experience. When my old TT did it, Greg, Charles and Steve (Mossy nissan mechanic, ex-zwhizz mechanic) all told me that it was the timing belt tensioner. I just found this from a search.

First of all, 5 minutes vs 15 seconds... He doesn't have the symptons that buying guide thing says. Second of all, I'm going to disagree with that 100%. I've seen 3 Z32's with failed timing belt tensioners, and tons with non failed timing belt tensioners, not a single one of them has "squeeled".
I've also heard tons of cars, not just Z's squeel, and it's always been a drive belt....

I have to admit, I've never heard (nor heard of) a timing belt (or its tensioner) squealing...

I've heard bearings (aka tensioner & idler pulley bearings for this topic of discussion) squeal just like a slipping accessory belt, shortly followed by siezure and / or disintegration.

If the bearing in your tensioner or ilder were to sieze, the t-belt will prolly squeal before it slips off.

2nd.
I'll be replacing my drive belts soon as they're screeching like crazy with the cold weather.

sadly, I almost wish I had the same problem... my Z is already in storage for winter (forced due to the fact that I couldn't afford insurance for her anymore on account of not being employed for the past 5 months) :(

my expereince, Greg's (dupree), Charles (Park), and Zwhizz mechanics have been different.

It's not the tensioner. I don't care who told you that it was.


Funny thing is....the drive belts need to be removed in order to get to the tensioner. They should've just tightened the belts, or replaced them. That way they wouldn't have needed to replace the tensioner and waste all that time.


I had 120k miles on my tensioner when I replaced it. It was quiet as a mouse.

never replaced it, just delt with it. and that's good that you had a quiet tensioner.

i got this belt squeek stuff at the autoparts place it seems to be working

You mean to tell me there were people out there who thought they had a failed timing belt tensioner and continued driving?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Good god..... That explains alot about the info on where it's coming from....

86zMan, thats called belt dressing.... I use it to help isolate the right belt, but sometimes it will stop the problem all together...

i know but its a start, if it fixes it thats good, but if not then oh well.

i know what belt it is because when someone pushes the gas i can see the belt slipping.

Read all the previous posts closely.....it's not actually failing, it just squeels.
"If you hear an annoying squeak from the front of the engine when the car is cold, its the timing belt tensioner. If it bugs you, buy another car or plan to change the timing belt early, $500 (including the tensioner, $250 without). The timing belt only needs to be changed at 60K miles. But, you have to take the timing belt off to replace the tensioner. It won't hurt to wait, it just makes an annoying noise for 5 minutes or so each time you start it. Nothing is actually broken."

if it's making an abnormal sound, it isn't operating correctly.... therefore needs to be investigated / checked out. And I knew if ANYTHING wasn't operating correctly on my car, ESPECIALLY when dealing with something as crucial as the timing belt.....

ok, I'd just rather listen to people in the Z community that have dealt with thousands of different Z's more so than people who have dealt with only a few or just one. I've heard differently from sources that I find to be more credible IMO. that's just where I'm coming from....now that we know where each other is coming from....can we just can the whole pissing contest.

OK, I work on Z's and many other types of vehicles all the time at the dealership I work at and you are wrong!! The TENSIONERS do squeel. After time the lube for the bearings in the tensioners wears away, this is why you should change them when you do a 60K tune up. The belt itself won't squeel cause it's a direct drive belt. Now if the accessary belts squeel it's cause they are slip drive belts and if they are loose you get the same sound, just smaller, as a tire in a fast takeoff and breaks loose.

Mechanical Engineering lesson over!!

Also if you don't believe me, Go to a Nissan dealership. Ask a tech this question and if he doesn't know ask him to look it up on Assist under Symptoms; TSB/TIPS Anytime there is ANY regular problems on ANY of Nissans vehicles it is put on the Nissan Assist Network for all the Techs all over the world to compare symptoms and fixs.

A. The hydrolic tensioners are sealed units on the Z32, which mean the lube isn't going to "wear" away. Either the seal will fail and it will leak out, or the bearing will get too hot and it will solidify the grease inside. Not impossible for the lube to "wear" away, but there is a reason for it.
B. Bearings do not start squeeling, then usually stop.
C. Belts are normally temperature sensative, bearings aren't really bitchy about that.

Also, bearing and belt squeels have distinct different sounds. Not much of a difference of the loudness of them...

Oh yah.

D. why are you bringing up an old dead post? If you would of read, it was already established in the first 3 posts the problem was a drive belt. I"m curious now as to why a timing belt tensioner was even brought up.
E. my original statement of, you have people who've delt with THOUSANDS of Z's that still drove their Z's around with timing belt tensioners with, for the sake of Outkast's posts "failed bearings" in them and they didn't replace them... Having a hard time believing that still.

And just cause you "work on cars" doesn't mean you know what your talking about. A NISSAN dealership (you didn't even say if you worked at a Nissan dealership) here managed to EF my Z up pretty bad, and they "work on cars all the time."

*Fine Print* I reserve the right to be wrong, other people should too. I also reserve the right to think your head is up your ass, as for this thread, this is my last post on it because i outlined my point clearly enough for someone with IQ to understand the points that were made. (the original point being you can get drive belts from autozone that work just fine..)

You mean kinda like wheel bearings? ;)
Sorry, wasn't gonna post on this thread again, but outkast had something to say. Yes, you reserve the right to be wrong, and he does to be right sometimes. Be skepitcal, you should be, but I suggest researching what happens to a lot of Z's, not just your own.

I guess anything is possible......like pigs flying out of my ass.

Please don't tell me that you think a wheel bearing and a belt tensioner bearing are even marginally similar.

Emo,...I think every person who has ever posted a question about squealing belts has gotten your response about the tensioner squealing. If a tensioner actually can make this noise; which I'm still saying it won't, unless maybe you put 300k miles on one, and since nobody here except you and Ludacris has ever actually heard it, don't you think that the accessory belts are a far more likely diagnosis???? Come on, you're a smart kid. Give people an answer that is most likely going to help them, not make them think that these cars are just repairs waiting to happen.

I know, but I was hoping no one would point that out! He said "bearings" don't make noise, so I was poking fun at him since wheel bearings obviously do. haha. :p
That's partially b/c of who I've heard it from. I respect what both Charles and Greg have to say when it comes to Z's. I mean, sure, you've torn your motor apart, and I've done maintenance, installed mods, and worked on other turbo cars more extensively and have helped guys in the club tear their motor down(watched and handed tools :p ), (none of this is what I'd call a bunch of experience, so I'm not going to know more than someone who has the experience) but Charles and Greg have both torn down and done just about anything imaginable to tons of VG30 motors. Especially Greg. Not only that, they actually design and make parts for the Z32. It's true, there's a little idolization (sp?) going on. :p On the other hand, you're right. It seems every time I've posted this answer on this forum, it's ended up being something else. (usually accessory belts)