Alternator belt

Q: I would like to change the alternator belt on my 2006 Nissan Almera, but I don’t know how to do the adjustment of the belt. Could you explain the process? The vehicle has aircon. G Pinar

A: According to the data I have, your Nissan should have two auxiliary drivebelts. One drives the power steering pump and water pump, while the other drives the alternator and air-conditioning pump.

The alternator drive belt tensioner can be accessed from below the vehicle after removing the undershield/splash cover. You should then see a lock nut on the centre of the tensioner pulley. Once this is released, the adjusting bolt on the tensioner can be undone, slackening the drivebelt enough to be able to remove it from the pulleys. Before it can be extracted, the power steering/water pump drivebelt will need to be removed. To do this, first slacken off the securing bolts on the power steering pump and release the tension adjustment bolt. The power steering pump may need to be pushed back to release the tension on the belt before it can be removed.

Once the new belt or belts (it is advisable to do both) are fitted, they should be tensioned up to a deflection of 4mm using a force of 98N (10kg/22lbs).