PAS/Water pump drive belt - No Tensioner present?

1999 1.0, PAS, No AirCon.

I went to do a drivebelt service today. The alternator belt came off with no fuss but when it came to the PAS/Water Pump belt I was surprised to find that there was no tensioner pulley to slacken off. Haynes says there should be one and the Nissan Workshop manual says there should be one, other threads on the forum also claim there should be one, but there just isn't one present at all . The belt just goes around the Crank Pulley, the PAS pump pulley and the water pump pulley, nothing else.

Can anyone advise me how to get the old one off?

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
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Thanks for taking the trouble to reply 1275. Can you be a little more specfic? I couldn't see anything that would allow me to reduce the belt tension. Where is it on the PAS pump?
 
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Thanks for your help 1275. I've loosened the two sqivel bolts on the bottom of the PAS pump and backed off the concealed adjuster bolt as shown in the other threads, but nothing is moving and so the old belt can't be released (I know I could just cut it off but then I won't be able to get the new one on).

Should the PAS pump be movable now , to slacken the grip on the belt?
 
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This is the view of the PAS from above.

DSC00028.JPG


On the left, lower side of the black bracket, immediately above the right-angled black pipe you can just see the head of a bolt that (I believe, I may be wrong) is the one mentioned in the other thread and there follows a picture of it from taken above after being loosened off.
DSC00029.JPG



I've also loosened the Pivot bolts at the bottom as follows.

DSC00027.JPG


Can anybody confirm that I've loosened the right bolts please?

Thanks in advance.
 

frank

Club Member
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Thanks for taking the trouble to reply Frank. I've already been through both those threads from 1275's reply earlier. I've loosened what I believe is the right (Tensioner?) bolt at the top but there is still insufficient slack in the belt to get it off. There is no sign that anything is moving to provide the slack eith. I've tried to move the PAS pump with a block of wood and a lump hammer, to no effect. Given up for today.

If possible, I really need someone that has actually done this job on this spec. car to tell me if I've got the right bolts loose.
 
It is a long time since I did mine and I've only done it the once so I could potentially be misremembering, do you perhaps need to wind the adjuster to loosen it rather than it being loose once the locknut is loosened?
 
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The nightmare continues. following advice on some of the other threads...I unbolted the engine mount and raised the engine a few inches. I was then able to remove the water pump pulley and get the old belt off. But..... with the new belt in situ I cannot get the pulley back on. There is just not enough slack in the belt to position it properly on the flange and re-fix the screws and there is hardly any room to get your hands in to manipulate it. I've been trying for hours.

Does anyone have any ideas about why I cannot get sufficient slack in the belt??

1275 mentions a locknut. I haven't seen any other mention of a locknut. Where might that be located?

Thanks in advance.
 
1275 mentions a locknut. I haven't seen any other mention of a locknut. Where might that be located?

The pin that the adjuster rod goes through, doesn't it have a nut on the end to keeps it tight. I have a pump somewhere so might just see if I can find it to see if I'm remembering correctly.
1576676381098.png


1576676381098.png
 
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Hi Frank, I've since undone that bolt so far that I can turn it easily with my fingers and I can put my finger under the bracket to the right of the bolt with "4" written on it, and touch the other end, its not tensioning against anything.
 

frank

Club Member
i think its a long adjusting bolt alex, you may need to slacken it a few turns and refit the old belt, then lever against the belt with a crowbar to shift the pump
 
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I don't think there is a long adjusting bolt Frank, like the ones you get on the normal tensioners.

Have a look at the last post on this thread https://www.micra.org.uk/threads/how-to-change-waterpump-powersteering-belt.32604/ The picture shows the same bolt we have been discussing and you can see opposite end of the "adjuster" bolt coming out of the other side of the bracket, it seems to just press against the block. Mine has been backed off so far, the end of it touches nothing. I tried loosening all other fixing bolts for the PAS pump but access is too tight for a socket or breaker bar and my spanners are too short so I couldn't get enough leverage to undo them. I'm getting on a bit and I'm not as strong as I used to be.

I'm working in the open on my drive. I'll have another go after tomorrow's forecast monsoon has passed. If I can get the old belt back on I may leave it at that until the spring. If not, I'll be driving the wife to work until I can fix it. I wish I'd never got it off now. I must have spent ten hours on this easy little job so far.

I wish I could get my hands on the guy that thought it was a good idea to do away with the tensioner pulley. It probably made it £20 cheaper to build the car.
 
The picture shows the same bolt we have been discussing and you can see opposite end of the "adjuster" bolt coming out of the other side of the bracket, it seems to just press against the block. Mine has been backed off so far, the end of it touches nothing.

The adjuster bolt is the one that goes through that part, the bolt head is prominent on the photo.
 
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Success!!!

That last hidden bolt was the key. Once loosened the new belt was on within 5 minutes.

Thanks again Frank and 1275. I'm very grateful to you for your help.

To sum up for anyone else doing this.

Under the car, loosen the two (14mm pivot) bolts at the bottom of the PAS, use a long socket if you have one (Picture above in my post 15th December,2019).
Then, loosen the two bolts shown in the picture in Frank's post just above here(18th December, 2019) . But first you must undo the triangular bracket as shown (mine had two bolts 12mm and 10mm)and move the pipework aside to reveal the hidden bolt head.

The one pictured with the spanner on it (12mm)needs to be wound out about an inch ( I found it easier from underneath the car myself) the other one(12mm), in the centre of the picture, just needs a couple of turns. (they are really the mirror image of the two bolts on the top of the alternator that you loosened to get the alternator belt off)

Once these bolts have been undone the PAS pump moves enough to provide the slack to change the belts, its still a fiddle but do-able.
 
Success!!!

That last hidden bolt was the key. Once loosened the new belt was on within 5 minutes.

Thanks again Frank and 1275. I'm very grateful to you for your help.

To sum up for anyone else doing this.

Under the car, loosen the two (14mm pivot) bolts at the bottom of the PAS, use a long socket if you have one (Picture above in my post 15th December,2019).
Then, loosen the two bolts shown in the picture in Frank's post just above here(18th December, 2019) . But first you must undo the triangular bracket as shown (mine had two bolts 12mm and 10mm)and move the pipework aside to reveal the hidden bolt head.

The one pictured with the spanner on it (12mm)needs to be wound out about an inch ( I found it easier from underneath the car myself) the other one(12mm), in the centre of the picture, just needs a couple of turns. (they are really the mirror image of the two bolts on the top of the alternator that you loosened to get the alternator belt off)

Once these bolts have been undone the PAS pump moves enough to provide the slack to change the belts, its still a fiddle but do-able.
Thanks a lot to all of you guys involved in this thread, all information and photos really helped me to go through my drivebelt replacement. I wish you all the best!
Thomas
 
So for a K11 with Power Steering No Aircon and no Idler pulley, the above is the answer to your problem of cannot move pump to tension belt

Just for the Googlebots

Gentlemen, I owe you a beverage, cold and fizzy or hot and with much caffeine.

I am off to fit a water pump instead of webuyanycar
 
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