The Nissan Path

Just out of curiosity, has anyone needed to replace the accessory drive belt on an R51 yet? I'm pretty hands-on, mechanically adept, and tend to do most vehicle maintenance on my own, but I can't beat the dealer price for oil changes, and my free time seems to be dwindling.

At the 37,500 mile maintenance, the service advisor tells me that my "belts" need to be replaced for $143. I ask which "belts" since I remembered the accessories all being driven by a single ribbed serpentine-type belt, and she said, "maybe it is one belt." I told her I'd keep an eye on it, and not to replace it - the service manager then comes up to me and tells me that they could do it quickly. The belt seems to be about $16 online, so I figure that after retail markup, they figured in an hour+ of work for a "quick" belt change. Anyway, I get the car home, poke around at what I can see of the belt, and I see no signs of cracking at all. Coupled with the fact that I don't think I have ever changed drive belts earlier than a 90k interval.

Similarly, at 30k, the same service advisor told me my front brakes needed to be replaced. 7500 miles later, they measure to 6mm - according to the shop manual, the minimum spec is 1 mm, new is 11.88.

I'm fairly certain my belt isn't yet on its way out, but thought I'd get some feedback. Has anyone had issues with the belt yet? If so, how many miles did you get out of the original?

Obviously my dealer is incompetent or looking to line their pockets at my expense.

Thx.

-Jamie

I just checked Nissan's 2006 Service and Maintenance Guide and the drive belts are an "inspect only" item on Schedule 1 and 2 Maintenance all the way through 120k miles and a "replace item" on Premium Maintenance level when you hit 60k. I'd go in there and ask that broad to show you on what maintenance list it shows that it should be changed. See what her expression is after that.

Dealer's just trying to get you. If you inspect your belt at every oil change and change it when you see cracks or chunk's you'll be fine. Even if it broke you'd have more than enough juice to get to a parts store to buy a new one.

If you don't see any cracking, then that belt is good. They start to develop small cracks in the ribbed part as they get older. It's only when the cracks go through the ribbed part and down into the base of the belt that you need to replace them. You can use a small mirror and a flashlight to get a really good look at the side of the belt.

I have a '97 Maxima with a VQ30 and 145k. Its belt looks shorter, but is otherwise very similar looking to the Pathfinder's. I just replaced it for the second time. I remember the original belt lasted until 90k, like you said. 2 belt changes over 11 years gives an average of 5.5 years between changes. I've only used the factory belts and the one for the Maxima was $27 at full dealer prices.

As for the the dealer, I've owned Nissans for over 20 years and I still haven't found a Nissan dealer that I can trust.

Thanks for the input Blink and 08Datsun. The dealer is certainly trying to screw me, and I'm with Blink regarding the trustworthiness of Nissan dealers - most dealers, actually. I honestly think I'm out of dealers I trust to do any work on my cars with the exception of places where I personally know a tech or service manager - unfortunately those dudes are at BMW, Honda, and Jaguar dealers!

I can only recall 2 service advisors I ever trusted that I worked with. One was the sales guy I bought the Pathy who was moved into service, then banished to the parts department, and I think ultimately quit - he was probably too honest for the commission game. The other told me she quit because of "business practices" at the dealer where she worked.

I'll probably start doing oil changes and the small stuff on my own - the Pathy is easy enough to get under! I may go back to the dealer for the 45k service, but I'm starting to lean toward buying the parts and fluids and having an independent do it - a guy I've known for years, and have a lot of trust in, but usually needs some advance notice to get stuff done on time.

Thanks!

All that being said, changing the belt is the easiest thing ever. Connect a 3/8ths socket driver to the auto-tensioner, push it back and the belt goes slack and take it off. Installation is the reverse of removal.

Here's a product that truck drivers use to keep v-belts in condition;

http://www.rcspecialty.com/PG297.pdf

http://www.rcspecialty.com/

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Ha ha, this brings back memories.

A few days after a trip off-road in the NJ Pine Barrens I blew-out my serpentine belt while accelerating hard onto a highway. It was cold, getting dark and raining, and I was about 35 miles from home. I decided to see how close to home I could get before either the engine started to get hot or the battery died. Amazingly, I made it all the way home, lights and wipers on, without the engine temperature ever going out of the normal range. There was even enough battery left for me to start the truck the next morning without a jump.

I brought it straight to the dealer the next day, who told me that there was a bunch of sand piled up in front of the engine, and this must have pushed the belt off the lower pulley. After feigning innocence, I resolved to make sure to get under the truck and clean-out any accumulated mud/sand after each off-road excursion. And to always carry a spare serpentine belt.

Water and oil pumps are driven by the timing chain, so as long as you keep it moving to get airflow (no fan) and the battery holds out you're good to go.