Geeed-UP,

Thanks for a clear suggestion. Are you speaking from experience on this issue? I'm getting ready to tear into the car this morning to check the tensioners again. Can you replace just the power steering pulley, or do you need to replace the whole pump? Is there any way I could check to see if its the power steering pulley as opposed to another one?

 

Here's how I diagnose engine noises: Take a long, flat-tip screw driver and place the tip end on a suspicious component while the engine is running.

****BE VERY CAREFUL TO NOT GET TOO CLOSE TO THE MOVING BELTS/PULLEYS.

Place the handle end up to the center of your ear (like a stethoscope). Search around until you hear the noise at its loudest. That should help you find the culprit.

 

Hey all,

Thanks for all the suggestions. I did manage to finally fix this problem.

As I said before, I tried tightening the belts first. This didn't help at all. So I took off the serpentine belt to try testing the engine without the belt on so that I could determine which tensioner it potentially was (A/C or PS). Before I tried starting the engine, I took the advice from NismoG35S' previous post and checked to make sure that all the pulleys (aside from the crank) spun easily. As soon as I tried spinning the idler pulley (not the tensioner, the pulley that was used for the mechanical fan on 2003s) it was clear that I'd found the culprit. I tried spinning the power steering pump, the tensioner, and the alternator and they all rotated cleanly and quietly.

As I was researching this problem in the forums, I came across an article regarding this pulley. Basically, on the 2003.5 and newer models, the G35 came with an electric fan instead of a mechanical one. However, during the design change, for whatever reason, Infiniti decided not to remove the pulley for the mechanical fan.

There is a how to in the forums for removing this pulley. Basically, you take it off, cut off a corner of the mounting bracket to use as a spacer and buy a 1" shorter belt. I followed the how-to listed here:

https://g35driver.com/forums/engine-...-mod-pics.html

I put on the shorter belt, started it up and presto! Back to normal. Examining the old pulley, I found that it made a noise that to me, sounded like a skateboard wheel that needed new bearings. That makes sense, since what failed on the thing was obviously the bearings. The other characteristic indication of this is that when I shake the assembly, it rattles. A good bearing shouldn't rattle.

Anyway, I hope this helps anyone else who has this problem. Glad I don't need a new power steering pump!! Thanks for all your help guys!

 

wow Nice find. Glad everything is ok now.

 

Congrats on fixing the problem yourself and saving some money in the process!!

 

sweet gj finding it lol as far as that pulley removal goes.. not for me lol

 

Yeah, if that pulley wasn't the problem, typically, I would have left it. However, the thought of spending money on a superfluous part seemed rather asinine. The shorter belt fits just fine and my car is nice and quiet again.

 

Great find. On my car that pulley is connected to the radiator fan (mechanical). It came apart once and shoved the fan into the radiator - still spinning. Good that you avoided ssomething similar with the pulley.

Sometime when I find the money I will do the electric fan conversion and toss this pulley.

 

I have the same problem. I have change the ALTERNATOR IDLER PULLEY. That was not it. It is problemly the prower steering pump the whole thing or the alternator.
DONT SPRAYING ANYTHING ON THE BELTS. WD-40, belt dressing etc. makes it worst!

People call infiniti and tell them about the problem they said if a lot of people call in they will do a recall on it. I also filed a complaint to NHTSA. you can do the same.
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm