Am I the only one with this problem? At one point I saw that my A/C belt was about half as wide as it was supposed to be. I had 11K on the car - took it back to the dealer, they said it was probably defective and replaced it. They said it could be caused by spending too much time at high RPM (which I think is BS)

I didn't think about it again until today. I am leaving on a 2000 mile roadtrip tomorrow. I changed the oil today and saw that I only had 2 ribs of the A/C belt left. I now have 33k. I went to Advance auto and bought a new belt. They didn't have a listing for '06, but they had the part for an '05. I got home, the belt had one more rib than factory, but I have no time so I used an exacto knife to cut off the extra rib. I looked at alignment, everything looks perfect. The pulleys look perfect, everything seems just right. There is nothing bent visibly. I ran straight edges across the pulleys and everything looks perfect. I don't know what else to check everything lines up and the idler pully surface is perfectly referenced to the crank pulley.

I do spend a fair amount of time near or at the limiter, but I also spend a lot of time driving on the highway at a steady 90-100 (just under 4,000 rpm) - my office is a 200 mile round trip on fairly empty interstate. The car should be able to do this all day forever. Luckily I only go there about 1 time a week.

I didn't have time to take it back to Infiniti this time, they are an hour south of me and as I said I am leaving tomorrow morning.

My question is this - are other people running into this problem? I did a search and didn't find anything. IF they are not then I am assuming that something must be misaligned and I don't want to have to deal with this for the life of the car. I am curious if they did reduce belt size 1 rib from '05 to '06 or if the two auto parts stores I went to have the wrong part.

For Reference - my last Maxima I changed the belts at 100K and 180K. My last Toyota tundra I changed the belts the first time at 140K when I did the timing belt for the first time and then again at 220K before I sold it. My wifes maxima still has the original belts at 100K and 7 years.

I drove the same in both of these vehicles except for the track days which are few and far between. I actually did run the Maxima at sebring a couple times.

 

Obviously the G35 has a problem with your style of driving?

 

I don't think so. That is kind of what I want to find out. I think my specific G has a problem in this area. I drive the car hard, but surely not as hard as other (younger) people on this board. Since mine is 99% stock I also am of the opinion that if the roads and laws would allow that I should be able to run many thousands of miles wide open.

If other people reply that they have problems with this than I will grudgingly accept it as a trait of the car. If not then I want the dealer to pursue it until it does not happen anymore.

About 15 years ago I had a '91 300zx which I drove pretty much the same as this car - it didn't have the power, but I bought it new and sold it with 189K with the original clutch and two sets of replacement belts and brake rotors. I only replaced the belts on that car because of having to do the timing belt and related parts as well. I had to replace a bunch of random electronic parts and a fan clutch, but overall it was as reliable as a japanese economy car.

 

Be sure to set proper tension with a tension gauge.

http://www.morbark.com/Service/belttension.pdf

 

Yeah - the tension is very close to correct. The first belt was factory, which could have been off a bit. The second belt was the dealer, which was probably pretty close. The belt I just put on I did according to the FSM by measuring deflection while applying 22lbs of pressure to the proper point. It may not be perfect, but it is certainly pretty close.

I just got back from my 2K trip to the mountains and the new belt has a worn groove in the back of it right between the ribs where the last belt seperated. There is nothing on the back of the idler pulley which is the only thing that should be able to touch the back of the belt, so I suspect that either the crank pully or the A/C clutch pulley has a peak on that ridge that is too high, or too sharp. I guess I will take it back to infiniti. I am leaving for Washington D.C. today, and then Orlando for the weekend. Maybe I can drop it off at the dealer and get a loaner at some point today or between DC and Orlando.

I need to get the rear axle creaking fixed before the warranty runs out. There is also some kind of driveline vibration at 85mph, very light throttle that new tires and brake rotors didn't fix (which is what the dealer said I needed last time). I could have them change the transmission and rear end oil, and save me the trouble - I guess it's worth the trip down there if they can fix any of it.

I think I will call them now to find out my options.

 

im having to change my a/c belt now because of the same problems, its my 3rd one butr i got 72k miles now, and been to track alot lately... still think the belt should last longer... anywyas please let me know what they say is causing yours, unless they give u bs excuse again

 

Yes, in my 07 M35x AC belt is getting destroyed in just one time rev to the limiter, ive changed all 3 components, Ac compressor, Balancer and tensioner with no improvements! Anybody knows how to fix this bug?

 

Are you using a belt tension gauge to ensure you have the proper tension on it?

When you look at the components are they all exactly in line with one another or is one pulley slightly off-center?