Just tried to tighten the belt on my S/C and the head of the bolt that tightens the tensioner idler pulley (from beneath the car) snapped off.

I'm going to tighten the tensioner pulley back down but can I even drive the car this way?

Vortech's closed on the weekends... time to call CP Racing I guess.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Here's what I've been able to find out... The tensioner idler pulley is held on my a M12x40mm bolt. I cannot seem to find out the part number of the actual tensioner bolt that makes the belt tighter.

If I can find this p/n maybe I can go out and buy a new bolt. In the meantime it's off to home depot for an e-z out set. What a buzz kill.

(Page 7 of the installation manual, section 6-I talks about a 12mm screw. I think this is the screw I need to buy, but I'm not sure how long it is, nor am I sure if it's even the right screw...)

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Buy a couple of bolts and just see which one works for ya. It doesn't seem like a major problem. Your hardest problem is gonna be getting the old bolt out. I love ez-outs for that though. Maybe nest time you could try using a Torque wrench so you are ensured not to snap the head off the bolt that is unless its' a defective bolt, which is sometimes the case.
Good luck bro and keep up posted.

James

 

The idler pulley has bearings in it and you dont want to tighten it to tight . I think some one said to trq. it to 25lb's

 

Maybe my post wasn't clear enough. The tensioner pulley has M12x50mm bolt that goes through the center of it (where the bearing is). That bolt is fine.

The broken bolt is the one you tighten to take the slack out of the belt. It's the one that raises the tensioner pulley towards the roof as it tightens.

What happens if I drive with a snapped off head to that bolt? The belt seems tight and the pulley with the bearing is tight. I wouldn't imagine that the sheared off bolt would back out, would it?

I really would rather have the car on a lift before trying my luck with an EZ out.

Any other suggestions?

 

You maybe able to back it out with out an EZ out . That bolt is long and it runs thru a...hard to discribe....up side down ..old time oil rig ...or upside down A . You maybe able to get some thing on it , and back it out

 

Yeah, after speaking with TimRod1011 I've learned that the bolt is actually a factory tensioner bolt. I'm going to call Nissan on Monday and see if I can get them to put my car on a lift and give me a hand. I'll bring a set of EZ outs with me and we should be good.

Thanks for hanging in there with me guys, I'm learning...

 

you should be fine having the bolt broken, as long as it's just the head and the bolt that locks the idler can still be tightened. that is going to be a b i t c h to fix that though, as you need to get the belt off first, and that bolt is so small you will need a small e-z out to get it, which may break on ya. hmmm, i would just try the vise grip method, then take the bolt to an actual nut and bolt manufacturer and get a new one in grade 8. then you won't have a prob again!

 

I'm hoping Bolt Planet near me will have a 160ksi bolt. I know it's 12mm but don't know the length. I'll call NISSAN on Monday and find out the bolt P/N and then go from there.

What would happen if I got a longer bolt? Would this give me MORE adjustment for tightening the belt?

 

We have an aluminum block, right? Go get your grade 8 bolt, but still tighten to spec only. You will strip the threads out of the block next, if you're not careful. Good luck with that.

 

I had the same thing happen to me while I was trying to tighten my belt. I just replaced the bolt at a local Infinti dealer for like $10. It was a pain though to take the one that was broken. I had had to take off the whole tensioner and basically cut the bolt off.

 

I can't see where the bolt threads into. Where ever it is, there is a lot of room around it as I can see many many threads at least 1 inch.

Are you sure this threads into the aluminum block? Sorry if this is a dumb question, I never took the black plastic under body cover off of the car and am having to look thru a small 2.5" dia. hole that I cut through the plastic.

Monday the cover comes off, the car goes onto a lift and I'll get a good look at the bolt. Until then I appreciate the comments.

 

it doesn't screw into the block. and now that i think about it, you will need to get an exact replacement because it has a collor on it that locks the bolt in. you will see what i mean when you can see it better.

 

I did this!! It's a Nissan part and, unless my memory is horrible, it's a COLLARED, REVERSE THREADED bolt. You can remove the entire tensioner assembly and buy a new bolt (or maybe you have to buy the entire tensioner, I can't remember).

In my case, the belt was way too loose so I was out of luck until a new part came in.

PS... You need a tighter belt.

--Steve

 

Steve, I'm going by Nissan today. I'd kill for a 5 minute chat w/ you on the phone. I'm thinking if I remove the entire tensioner pulley and the front grill that I can access the bolt with some plyers and unscrew it from the front of the car. Then put in the new screw and reassemble the pulley. I'm too chicken to play around with EZ outs after seeing how tiny that bolt is. The last thing I want to do is drill through the side of the bolt and mess up the threads and then find out that I cannot back out the screw.

Can anyone post the correct size belt for the 3.12 pulley. I know the size I have on mine but I've definitely run out of room for adjustment. Maybe I'll have to order another pulley from Vortech, machine it down and try timrod1011's mod. In the meantime, I'd like to make sure I have the correct sized pulley (which I'm pretty sure I do).

I'll make sure to post back with the fix. This seems to be a more common problem than I'd realized if Tim, Steve and sa52 have all experienced something like this.

 

I'm trying to remember exactly what I did. I'm about 99% sure I didn't need to remove the grill. Have you removed the underbody cover yet? Once you do, I think you'll see that the tensioner can be removed fairly easily. I don't believe you can get the new bolt in without removing the tensioner.

The tensioner has a LOT of play to it, so if you were already to the end of the bolt then you need a one-size-smaller belt. Sorry I don't remember the size.

--Steve

 

The bolt is part of the factory belt tensioner assembly. You'll have to purchase the entire assembly. They do not sell the bolt by itself. I found this out because I had to replace the pulley on the same assembly once. IIRC, the entire unit is around $30.

oh, and I believe the belt length you are looking for is 93cm for the 3.12" pulley. I can give you the exact NAPA part number once I get home.

 

Gates part # K060930

 

Thanks guys. I have the 25-060930 Gates Belt on my car. Attached below is the picture of the Accessory Drive Belt Routing. The bolt that snapped off screws in from the bottom of the Factory Belt Tensioner Idler in the photo. I'll know more about whether I ran out of room with the tensioner or if it was that I used an 18" breaker bar to get a little moment on the bolt to tighten it up. (I know, I know...)

"theking" got ahold of me and told me he had one of these assemblies laying around off of his first motor that I could have. NISSAN parts told me they'd have to order the part but there were two tensioners (the A/C and alternator). They also told me that they would not order the part until they could see the broken bolt so they wouldn't be stuck with the wrong part.

Anyway, I'm driving around and boosting to 9psi w/o any problems so far. I'll post the results and the fix (how to) later on. Hopefully I'll even be able to have someone w/ a camera so we can do a step by step with pics.

 

Sorry Neff I was very busy yesterday afternoon. I found the part and you can pick it up tonight if you want. You know my number. Glad I could help.