# What to do about poor Nissan service



## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

Just wanted to get some opinions so I don't waste my time.
I have a 04 Frontier. I have had several problems with the fan belts squeaking, chirping, ...whatever you want to call it. I have had it in at least seven times to have the problem resolved. The first couple of times, they replaced the belts and the noise would go away only to come back again later. Couple of the times they just adjusted tension. Then, they replaced a counter balance pulley. Problem solved for a while. Then, recently, one of the bolts holding the altenator in its bracket came loose. How the altenator did not fall off, I will never know. The bolt worked its way loose and only had a 1/4" of the threads in the hole. The rest of the bolt was wedged less than half a inch from the fan's tips. (That could have been ugly if it hit the fan). They fixed that problem on another visit. Now, the belts are making their normal noise again, and on top of that, I have some kind of vibration at approx 2000-2100 rpms. I looked around the engine and noticed while reeving the engine with my hand on the throttle cable, that when the vibration and "humming" noise associated with it, was happening only when (and again I noticed this part while under the hood) a belt on the altenator pulley would shake violently. Again, it would quit past 2100 rpms(the noise and the vibrations as well as the belt shaking or vibrating violent that I noticed while under the hood). I am just plain pissed off at the incompetence of the mechanics. I would have fixed the bolt issue myself, but those incompetent jerks were responsible as admitted by the dealership for not properly torquing the bolt. I really think that when they re-installed the bolt, they failed to check and correct the proper tension on the belt. I am scared to have my truck worked on there anymore because of their quality of work. I have had several issues with them not fixing a leaky rear differential before also just to add to their quality of work. What should I do? Should I contact Nissan USA, or just take the truck to the next dealership about 30 miles away and not say anything at all? I am asking about contacting Nissan USA because I have a feeling that nothing will come from it. DOn't want to waste my time. I am very pissed off about the situation right now. I love my truck, love Nissan, but hate the &*^#-ing mechanics at my local dealership!

Also, just to make sure I am correct, do any of you think that the belt not having proper tension will cause it to shake, vibrate, whatever violently? Or could it be a pulley that is not properly balanced and vibrating only at certain speeds like tires vibrating on the interstate only at certain speeds?


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## Q-Tip (Sep 10, 2005)

I'd like to know what the group has to say on this also. I'm having/I had tire balancing issues with the local dealer and am about at the end of my rope.

Evil grin. I got a questionaire in the mail Friday from Nissan USA wanting to know how my service experience has been. As soon as I calm down and can communicate rationally I intend to blister somebody's ass. :banhump: In writing.

Probably won't resolve anything ultimately but I need to vent. Or maybe just drink. :cheers:

-


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

Q-Tip said:


> I'd like to know what the group has to say on this also. I'm having/I had tire balancing issues with the local dealer and am about at the end of my rope.
> 
> Evil grin. I got a questionaire in the mail Friday from Nissan USA wanting to know how my service experience has been. As soon as I calm down and can communicate rationally I intend to blister somebody's ass. :banhump: In writing.
> 
> ...


Hell, the last time I took the truck in to fix the "potentionally" bad situation with the altenator bolt, the local dealership's customer relations lady called me to apologize and ask if I was having any other problems ... etc. She had the nerve at the end of the conversation to ask if they send me a survey if I was satisfied enough to answer it without any negative remarks! WTF!?!!? I was about to blow up on her and then quickly came to my sense and said very relaxed with a grin on my face, "Yes ma'am, of course." You'de better believe that they will hear about that on the survey plus all the other bull shit going on. They are definetly going to hear about all this crap. That lady screwed up when she asked that stupid question. 

Now I am just trying to figure out if it is worth my time to call Nissan USA. 

I think I am going to the dealer one more time and telling them flat out this will be the last time if I have this problem come back. I love the service reps, they are nice and friendly. I don't have a grudge against them and would hate to take my business somewhere else. I know I would not find better service reps elsewhere. 

I am thinking along the lines that if I take my truck to another dealer and explain my problems they will go the extra mile and replace/fix anything and then some nessecary in hopes of keeping me as a customer so that when my warranty runs out, I will keep coming to them and paying them instead of my current dealership. 

I have had it and hopes this BULL SH!T works itself out. I don't have time for this crap between five college classes and full time work. It takes too much time running back and forth from the dealership. I am so tempted to fix the crap myself.


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## 05 NISMO 4X4 (Jun 4, 2005)

I've been back to my dealership once since purchasing my truck, and that was to get some crush washers from the parts department because I could not find any locally. I'll probably bring it in for the first scheduled major periodic maintenance and have then do the trailer connector fix while I'm there, but until I have to, I do all the routine maintenance myself! It's not that I don't trust THEM with my truck, I don't trust ANYONE with my truck!


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

05 NISMO 4X4 said:


> I've been back to my dealership once since purchasing my truck, and that was to get some crush washers from the parts department because I could not find any locally. I'll probably bring it in for the first scheduled major periodic maintenance and have then do the trailer connector fix while I'm there, but until I have to, I do all the routine maintenance myself! It's not that I don't trust THEM with my truck, I don't trust ANYONE with my truck!


Just to think that this is a minor problem too, with the fan belts.

The only work I have them do on my truck is anything covered under warranty, and tire balancing and alignment. Ten thousand miles from now, my truck wont be back to the dealership for anything other than the tire balances and alignments. Haven't been able to find anyone with my previous two vehicles that can get those two things right. Sears sucks for balanceing and alignments. Other than that, I do everything else myself. But, again, while its under warranty, you'd better believe I am taking advantage of that. It just pisses me off though that I can't trust the mechanics at my local dealership. I am begining to wonder just how many rookies they have working here now. I would like to think that I can trust Nissan with my truck. I agree with you to an extent, I will never trust anyone from quick change oil shops to these so called repair shops. Hell, I replaced the calipers on my wife's old grand am without any previous knowledge or instruction on how to do so without the least bit of thinking of taking it to a repair shop. Turns out, with common sense you can do a better job than those shops. Found this out through a friend that took his car into a local shop for the same type of caliper job.


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## Q-Tip (Sep 10, 2005)

05 NISMO 4X4 said:


> I've been back to my dealership once since purchasing my truck, and that was to get some crush washers from the parts department because I could not find any locally. I'll probably bring it in for the first scheduled major periodic maintenance and have then do the trailer connector fix while I'm there, but until I have to, I do all the routine maintenance myself! It's not that I don't trust THEM with my truck, I don't trust ANYONE with my truck!


Since I do most maintenance myself, I try to be selective in who works on my vehicles because they are doing the really tough jobs that I can't or won't do myself. In my experience, dealer service departments are about the best places to go -- they have the OEM parts, service manuals, procedures, training, etc. -- but they are almost always VERY expensive, usually prohibitively so. And lately I'm finding that the quality just isn't there either.

Where to turn?? I can do a lot but I can't do it all myself!!

Best bet for finding a good mechanic is through word-of-mouth, and stay away from the mega-chains and quickie-lube places. I got lucky and found a mechanic that I trust completely. He's got a small shop so he's a little limited as to what he can do (can't do tires or alignments or bodywork for example) but for engine/trans/suspension work he can do it all. Seeing as how rare he is, I probably should patronize his shop more often!! (He was willing to work on the engine in my Fiero when the local Pontiac dealer didn't want to touch it. Guy is worth his weight in gold.)

So I can't say I don't trust anybody to work on my cars, just most of them.

Just my $.02


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## NismoFrontin' (Oct 4, 2005)

I have to say, they have some real screwballs at these stealerships. I took my truck in one time to get the tranny checked (shifting kinda wierd) and they kept it all day long (8 hours) to "drive and test it extensively," and of course came up with no issues. I looked at my mileage before I went there: 42,982, when I got the truck back: 42,984 !!! And they had the nerve to try and charge me 90 something dollars for the visit despite the fact it was covered under warranty.  

Anyway, as far as the belts go, mine were chirping pretty bad a while back. I just shot some belt conditioner on there every time it did it. Worked for about a week, then I'd do it again. Well I finally got around to changing them for some new ones. Lessened the sound significantly, but there was still some squeaking. I then got underneath and noticed the tensioner was rattling around a bit. The bearing inside of it was worn, so I replaced the tensioner as well. Made the chirping nice a quiet, so now I can enjoy the sound of the exhaust more.  

Chances are, it's probably the tensioner if they already replaced the belts. They may say that they have "replaced" it, but most likely they just changed the bearing, or maybe nothing at all. A lot of times they tighten those belts so tight that its no surprise that my tensioner went.

By the way, what kind of warranty do they have on tire balancing and rotations?


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

mitchell35758 said:


> Just wanted to get some opinions so I don't waste my time.
> I have a 04 Frontier. I have had several problems with the fan belts squeaking, chirping, ...whatever you want to call it. I have had it in at least seven times to have the problem resolved. The first couple of times, they replaced the belts and the noise would go away only to come back again later. Couple of the times they just adjusted tension. Then, they replaced a counter balance pulley.


Just want to add after going through my records, I found that they also replaced a idler pulley on the power steering pump. 
:balls: 
They have worked on and/or re-worked on the following:
rear diff leak --- 3 times
the squeaky belt issue --- 7 times
rubber trim on left front fender --- 2 times, then I said f-it and just glued the damn thing
lower radiator hose --- 1 time
ABS light coming on intermittently --- 2 times, then it quit, fixed itself or something
noisy suspension --- 2 times, now, I just live with it(I have owned one other truck, and I can only remember my dad's previous truck plus his current tundra, their suspensions did not make this noise, so NO its not normal
:balls: 
I have decided to give them one final chance and explain to them that if the problem is not fixed this time I will be contacting Nissan USA as well as taking my truck to another dealership from this point on. 

I think that is fair enough


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

NismoFrontin' said:


> I have to say, they have some real screwballs at these stealerships. I took my truck in one time to get the tranny checked (shifting kinda wierd) and they kept it all day long (8 hours) to "drive and test it extensively," and of course came up with no issues. I looked at my mileage before I went there: 42,982, when I got the truck back: 42,984 !!! And they had the nerve to try and charge me 90 something dollars for the visit despite the fact it was covered under warranty.
> 
> Anyway, as far as the belts go, mine were chirping pretty bad a while back. I just shot some belt conditioner on there every time it did it. Worked for about a week, then I'd do it again. Well I finally got around to changing them for some new ones. Lessened the sound significantly, but there was still some squeaking. I then got underneath and noticed the tensioner was rattling around a bit. The bearing inside of it was worn, so I replaced the tensioner as well. Made the chirping nice a quiet, so now I can enjoy the sound of the exhaust more.
> 
> ...


I think it is safe to say that they have replaced the counter measure and idler pulleys. I made them show me the parts, old and new. Unless they keep old parts on hand for BSing customers, then they did a damn good job cleaning the parts on my truck, because they looked new. I believe what you are saying. It doesn't supprise me when people get ripped off like that. I am quite confident that they did replace the pulleys like they said. I have had three complete sets of belts replaced on my truck (under warranty) within the first 15000 miles. After that, thats when they decided to start replacing other stuff. I am going to suggest to them to replace the tensioner. They owe it to me with all this BS and my time sitting up there and also the time not having my truck that I am paying for to the bank for me to drive, NOT SIT IN THE DEALERSHIPS SERVICE DEPARTMENT! :wtf:. This shit is making me mad.

I was looking at a belt tension guage a while back for a new tool once the warranty went out. But now I might have to get one to check the dealerships work. I'll be checking every bolt they touch for now on after the incident with my altenator. 

Yeah, it would be nice to enjoy the sound of my exhaust too, maybe one day when all this BS is fixed.


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## Gerald (May 23, 2005)

mitchell35758,

I have had pretty good luck with my dealership. The few things that have not been done well have been corrected on the next visit. The dealers are looked at pretty closely
by Nissan so I would indeed send in the surveys.

When I bought my 2000 XE KC back in 2000 I went to the dealership one time for service. It was not good so I started going to the dealership I am now using. They also
got my '05 LE KC purchase because of the service depart-
ment.

I would try the other dealership that is 30 miles away. If
they cannot fix it then contact Nissan that you have the problem and ask for a regional service rep to contact you.

Good luck with curing this problem and please keep us posted on how you are doing.

OkieScot


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

NismoFrontin' said:


> By the way, what kind of warranty do they have on tire balancing and rotations?


I have no idea. I just know that I got lucky a couple of times when the service rep lady told me not to worry about it and the service ticket said $0 dollars. They even removed the tires from the rims to inspect them. Far more than I can say for any one from Walmart to Sears. I would like to think that if it is not a warranty thing, they would still cover it within a reasonable amount of time after purchasing a brand new vehicle with tires vibrating just driving down the road. I know that my first alignment job was covered for free since they think that or claimed that the reason why it was out of alignment was because it was sitting on the hill in the grass were they park the trucks on the show lot. Doesn't sound right, but it was free. 

Thanks for your tip on the tensioner. As stated above, I will be after them on that and a couple of other suspected items.


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

Gerald said:


> mitchell35758,
> 
> I have had pretty good luck with my dealership. The few things that have not been done well have been corrected on the next visit. The dealers are looked at pretty closely
> by Nissan so I would indeed send in the surveys.
> ...


Unfortunatly, I will end up giving them one more chance since I just cannot work the 30 mile trip into my schedule for the next couple of weeks. Glad you mentioned the regional service rep. Unless they said something about it at Nissan USA, I would have never thought to ask to speak to one. I'll let you know how it goes by the end of the week.


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

:thumbup:


NismoFrontin' said:


> Chances are, it's probably the tensioner if they already replaced the belts. They may say that they have "replaced" it, but most likely they just changed the bearing, or maybe nothing at all. A lot of times they tighten those belts so tight that its no surprise that my tensioner went.


NismoFrontin'
You were indeed onto something. I took the truck in again today to have them listen to the noise. The guy that does the ride alongs stuck his head out the door and back in again to see who it was. Din't like me from last time when I was just short of raising hell with him. Service Rep came back out and said he was too busy. Said to come back later and they might be able to help me. I got pissed, left, stoped in a parking lot, called Nissan USA, complained, called the dealership in Decatur(25-30 miles away), they said they would look at the problem. Decided to take it in to them in about a week. Stopped at a Express Oil Change acting like I wanted a quote to fix my problem. The guy saw what I was talking about. He then noticed that the tensioner pulley was not ligned up with the belt and showed me exactly what he was talking about. Recommended that I go to Nissan since it was under warranty and would be free that way(I love people like that, HONEST and not trying to rip you off with sorry work, I felt bad about lying to him). He wasn't sure if that would fix my problem, but thinks it would at least help if it didn't. I have my doubts because it is not the same belt that I am having problems with(the vibration issue) but, then again, it could be casuing the pulley that holds both those belts to go crazy at that certain rpm range. So, in short, you might be right. Thanks for the tip. :thumbup:


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## azrocketman (Oct 5, 2005)

mitchell35758 said:


> Just want to add after going through my records, I found that they also replaced a idler pulley on the power steering pump.
> :balls:
> They have worked on and/or re-worked on the following:
> rear diff leak --- 3 times
> ...


I do not know what the "lemon laws" are in your state but that may a way to get someone's attention (like the dealer or Nissan USA).

Good luck.


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

azrocketman said:


> I do not know what the "lemon laws" are in your state but that may a way to get someone's attention (like the dealer or Nissan USA).
> 
> Good luck.


I don't remember, but the last time I looked, I don't think I would have quaified. But I will have to check again. Thanks for bringing that up.


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

Here is a pic of that pulley in question










Its hard to see in the picture, but if you look closely, you can see it is kind of cocked and not completely in line with the belt.


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## 05 NISMO 4X4 (Jun 4, 2005)

mitchell35758 said:


> Here is a pic of that pulley in question
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I read an article in the Paper this past Sunday by the Car Guys, and a guy wrote in stating he had replaced 3 water pumps in the past year and wondered what could be causeing the problem. The suggested checking the belt, stating that if the belt had been replaced with the wrong size (smaller) it could be putting undue stress on the bearings of the water pump causing them to wear out faster. I wonder if the same thing could be the cause of your problem? Have you had the belts or the automatic tensioner changed since it was new? Anyway, just another angle...


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## flyfish7786 (Jan 23, 2006)

*noisy belts*

I have a 98 Frontier And My belts dont squeek, but the pulleys do. All I do is manage to get some oil into the pulley bearing and the noise goes away. This is the second nissan I've owned that has had the same problem. Try that and see if it helps.


mitchell35758 said:


> Just wanted to get some opinions so I don't waste my time.
> I have a 04 Frontier. I have had several problems with the fan belts squeaking, chirping, ...whatever you want to call it. I have had it in at least seven times to have the problem resolved. The first couple of times, they replaced the belts and the noise would go away only to come back again later. Couple of the times they just adjusted tension. Then, they replaced a counter balance pulley. Problem solved for a while. Then, recently, one of the bolts holding the altenator in its bracket came loose. How the altenator did not fall off, I will never know. The bolt worked its way loose and only had a 1/4" of the threads in the hole. The rest of the bolt was wedged less than half a inch from the fan's tips. (That could have been ugly if it hit the fan). They fixed that problem on another visit. Now, the belts are making their normal noise again, and on top of that, I have some kind of vibration at approx 2000-2100 rpms. I looked around the engine and noticed while reeving the engine with my hand on the throttle cable, that when the vibration and "humming" noise associated with it, was happening only when (and again I noticed this part while under the hood) a belt on the altenator pulley would shake violently. Again, it would quit past 2100 rpms(the noise and the vibrations as well as the belt shaking or vibrating violent that I noticed while under the hood). I am just plain pissed off at the incompetence of the mechanics. I would have fixed the bolt issue myself, but those incompetent jerks were responsible as admitted by the dealership for not properly torquing the bolt. I really think that when they re-installed the bolt, they failed to check and correct the proper tension on the belt. I am scared to have my truck worked on there anymore because of their quality of work. I have had several issues with them not fixing a leaky rear differential before also just to add to their quality of work. What should I do? Should I contact Nissan USA, or just take the truck to the next dealership about 30 miles away and not say anything at all? I am asking about contacting Nissan USA because I have a feeling that nothing will come from it. DOn't want to waste my time. I am very pissed off about the situation right now. I love my truck, love Nissan, but hate the &*^#-ing mechanics at my local dealership!
> 
> Also, just to make sure I am correct, do any of you think that the belt not having proper tension will cause it to shake, vibrate, whatever violently? Or could it be a pulley that is not properly balanced and vibrating only at certain speeds like tires vibrating on the interstate only at certain speeds?


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

05 NISMO 4X4 said:


> I read an article in the Paper this past Sunday by the Car Guys, and a guy wrote in stating he had replaced 3 water pumps in the past year and wondered what could be causeing the problem. The suggested checking the belt, stating that if the belt had been replaced with the wrong size (smaller) it could be putting undue stress on the bearings of the water pump causing them to wear out faster. I wonder if the same thing could be the cause of your problem? Have you had the belts or the automatic tensioner changed since it was new? Anyway, just another angle...


Oh yeah...they replaced the belts at least twice. They haven't touched the tensioner pulley though. They replaced the idler and counter measure pullies. I really need to get a tool to check the tension on the belts. They don't feel TOO tight, nor do they feel TOO loose. I don't know what to do anymore. I took it in to another dealership shortly after posting this and talked to the service rep there. Of course it was too late in the day of them to do any work on it. But he said that all they can do is have a tech ride with me and listen for the noise and that they would also inpsect the pulleys and belts. He said that he noticed the angle of the tensioner pulley, but if the mechanic says its ok, thats about all they can do. I really am about to give up on all this


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

flyfish7786 said:


> I have a 98 Frontier And My belts dont squeek, but the pulleys do. All I do is manage to get some oil into the pulley bearing and the noise goes away. This is the second nissan I've owned that has had the same problem. Try that and see if it helps.


Thanks for the tip. For all I know, the noise could be coming from the pullies. It is hard to tell anymore. Which pulley exactly were you having problems with? 

I'll definetly give it a shot. I am about to quit all together and just live with using belt dressing on the belts and oil on the pulley's bearings.


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## Q-Tip (Sep 10, 2005)

Q-Tip said:


> I'd like to know what the group has to say on this also. I'm having/I had tire balancing issues with the local dealer and am about at the end of my rope.
> 
> Evil grin. I got a questionaire in the mail Friday from Nissan USA wanting to know how my service experience has been. As soon as I calm down and can communicate rationally I intend to blister somebody's ass. :banhump: In writing.
> 
> ...


Just an update. The survey went out in yesterday's mail. I attached a letter worded strongly enough that I'm expecting a phone call from someone. If it's from the dealer's service manager that's fine. If it's somebody with Nissan USA even better. I'm rehearsing my rant!

I'll let you know!


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## Dflosrt4 (Dec 25, 2005)

I am really sorry you guys have had so much problem with the dealership. It sucks because people like that give people like me, who are honest working at a nissan dealership a bad name. I wish you guys were close to the dealership here because I would guarantee fixing your problems. I am Nissan Technician and I can assure that is no way to do business. We have 2 dealerships in my area which I work at 0ne of course. I have had numerous people come in and complain about the other dealership which in turn is my time to shine since they came to my dealership. I love customers like this because I turn thier views around about the dealership and fix thier problems honestly. I have got so many customers coming back to our dealership because some idiot at another dealership coudnt take care of them. I actually have customers come in with thier non nissan vehicles to get worked on since we have good customer base. There are alot of shitty techs out there and many not so honest ones. One thing though is Nissan does hate negative feedback on those surveys. I dont know if you explained this or not but did you talk to the service manager. If the service manager is a dick then you prolly wont get to far. You may even try the Gerneral Manager. If nothing then you may have to contact Nissan USA. I just cant beleive they would hire people that are that dishonest and cant fix a vehicle correct. I can assure you that where I work we are Professionals. I am only 23 but i figure if i can get a good customer base now maybe they will come back to me for life.But i guess if you dont live in Colorado then I cannot be of much help. Hope everything turns out alright and keep us updated.


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

Dflosrt4 said:


> I am really sorry you guys have had so much problem with the dealership. It sucks because people like that give people like me, who are honest working at a nissan dealership a bad name. I wish you guys were close to the dealership here because I would guarantee fixing your problems. I am Nissan Technician and I can assure that is no way to do business. We have 2 dealerships in my area which I work at 0ne of course. I have had numerous people come in and complain about the other dealership which in turn is my time to shine since they came to my dealership. I love customers like this because I turn thier views around about the dealership and fix thier problems honestly. I have got so many customers coming back to our dealership because some idiot at another dealership coudnt take care of them. I actually have customers come in with thier non nissan vehicles to get worked on since we have good customer base. There are alot of shitty techs out there and many not so honest ones. One thing though is Nissan does hate negative feedback on those surveys. I dont know if you explained this or not but did you talk to the service manager. If the service manager is a dick then you prolly wont get to far. You may even try the Gerneral Manager. If nothing then you may have to contact Nissan USA. I just cant beleive they would hire people that are that dishonest and cant fix a vehicle correct. I can assure you that where I work we are Professionals. I am only 23 but i figure if i can get a good customer base now maybe they will come back to me for life.But i guess if you dont live in Colorado then I cannot be of much help. Hope everything turns out alright and keep us updated.


Why don't you move down here to Huntsville? Sounds like you would to a good job and get half the idiots fired at this dealership. I say that only because if you come in and go 100%, then all the techs that are half-assing it would stand out and be shown the door. Oh well. I'm going to a different dealer Tuesday morning. 
This is a real long shot, but have you had any 01-04 frontiers with 4cyl that had a vibration/humming while the engine is between 1900-2100 rpms? I can feel the vibration through my stick. It started after they fixed the bolt that they failed to torque just missed coming all the way out from the altenator bracket. I know I said it above, but when this happens, I can see the belt on the very bottom right before it comes over the altenator pulley vibrating more than any other belt. Again, this is an extremely long shot, but I am desperate to get this fixed so I don't have to keep going to the dealership.


Everything you said makes perfect sense though. Your competition of the same brand is not performing, they come to you, take care of them real good, then the majority of the time you got them hooked. Its smart business. I wonder sometimes if half these business owners ever went to business school. I'm not going to say where I work, but when our other stores screw up(each owned and operated indivdually), and they sometimes call us by accident to complain, we take care of them, hook'em, and about 75-80% of them become our customers and drive out of there way to see us over the other store. Its all about the customers, and half of them can't figure out why they fail and shut down! No customers, then you have no revenue coming in, no revenue and you can't PAY THE BILLS, no revenue and you can't MAKE A PROFIT!


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## Dflosrt4 (Dec 25, 2005)

You know what now that i think about it i did have one come in with a vibration at that rpm. It ended up being the fan clutch. I dont recall what year it was though. Make sure the fan spins freely with you hand. If not then it may be the fan clutch. LIke i said im not sure if this is the problem though. I havent seen too many 4cyl come in for problems. Try that and let me know how that works. Hopefully the dealership you take it to takes care of you.


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

Dflosrt4 said:


> You know what now that i think about it i did have one come in with a vibration at that rpm. It ended up being the fan clutch. I dont recall what year it was though. Make sure the fan spins freely with you hand. If not then it may be the fan clutch. LIke i said im not sure if this is the problem though. I havent seen too many 4cyl come in for problems. Try that and let me know how that works. Hopefully the dealership you take it to takes care of you.


Ok for now, this is how you can find it. You might have to let it run through choppy the first time and the sencond time it should be perfect.

http://mycars157.mitchellswebsite.com
go to 04 frontier page
scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the link
and there the videos will be

I just went out and checked the fan. Should the fan just spin like a ceiling fan when you push its blades? My fan moves, but when I try to make it spin on its own, it doesn't. It is hard to describe, but it feels like there is no resistance, just quits turning as soon as I let go of it. Again, it feels smooth, but stops spinning as soon as I let go of it.


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

mitchell35758 said:


> Ok for now, this is how you can find it. You might have to let it run through choppy the first time and the sencond time it should be perfect.
> 
> http://mycars157.mitchellswebsite.com
> go to 04 frontier page
> ...


Here's a quicker way to get to the videos: http://mycars157.mitchellswebsite.com/various.html
Anybody else that is knowledgable with fan belts in general, please help me out and tell me this is not normal. I really doubt it is normal. If the clutch on the fan is bad, could it cause some kind of drag on the pulleys at a certain rpm to casuse the belts to do this? This is the only belt that I have noticed doing it. Tuesday is my next appointment with a new dealership and would really like to know as much as I can so that I dont have to go through all the BS that I had to at my other dealership.


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## Dflosrt4 (Dec 25, 2005)

Hey mitchell that fan clutch sounds normal. The way the belt moves in the video is weird. It seems as if something is loose. The pulley may be warped or something in that matter. I havent seen a problem like that yet. LEt me know what the new dealer says.


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

Dflosrt4 said:


> Hey mitchell that fan clutch sounds normal. The way the belt moves in the video is weird. It seems as if something is loose. The pulley may be warped or something in that matter. I havent seen a problem like that yet. LEt me know what the new dealer says.


Thanks for looking. I'll keep you updated. :thumbup:


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

Dflosrt4,

Took the truck in a day early. They right away heard what I was talking about and were able to see the belt that I was talking about. I even showed them the video clips that I had taken even though they already acknowledged there was a problem. Pretty damn sad when the all the other dealership could say was everything was normal, even during the ride along and the noise was obvious. They put a new belt on for me and ordered a new bracket for the tensioner pulley. They are going ot see if that will solve the problem. They think that pulley being out of alignment is what is causing all the trouble. The new belt cut the noise and vibration issues out that I was having. After being given the truck back to take home until the new part came in, I stoped down the road before I left that city to inspect the work. I noticed a new noise. Still with the belts. I took it back and checked to make sure they knew about it. The tech came out and talked to me(very honest guy who I delt with earlier in the morning and was the one that instantly knew what I was talking about as far as the noise and vibration issues). He told me until they get the new bracket in which they are confident will put the pulley back in alignment with the rest of them, they will not know for sure. But he was very confident that all my troubles from the past and now are a result of this bracket being bent. According to the tech, the pulley itself is in good shape and not warped. He showed me the bracket and how for some reason it is bent in slightly(maybe a part that slipped past quality control during production at a supplier plant). 

I believe that if my first Nissan dealership would have recognized that pulley being out of alignment, then the other two pulleys that were replaced would have never gone bad. I would have not needed to go through several sets of belts, and would have saved Nissan's money and my time. I also believe this because I think that that pulley being out of alignment has caused stress on the rest of the pulleys that went bad and the belts that they replaced. Might I be correct? If this bracket, once installed fixes everything, should I contact Nissan USA and tell them that all my warranty work dealing with the belts and pulleys could have been avoided if the first dealership would have noticed this problem from the start?

These guys have already proven to me their level of competence with the several trips it took to get them to correctly fix my leaky rear diff. And the bolt they failed to torque that just about came all the way out of the altenator bracket. IT DOES NOT DOUBT ME THAT THEY SIMPLY OVERLOOKED THIS PULLEY AS BEING THE CULPRIT EVEN THOUGH IT WAS OUT OF ALIGNMENT, AND BAD! Hell, I overlooked it, but I am not a Nissan trained tech that fixes Nissan vehicles. 

I know I said it above somewhere in another post, and I apologize if it offends you just being related in terms of working for Nissan, but some the techs at dealership located in Huntsville are complete idiots!


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

Dflosrt4 said:


> Hey mitchell that fan clutch sounds normal. The way the belt moves in the video is weird. It seems as if something is loose. The pulley may be warped or something in that matter. I havent seen a problem like that yet. LEt me know what the new dealer says.


Forgot to add to the last post, they did have to tighten the belts up as well

what is the exact name of the tool used for checking the tension on fan belts? I can not come up with the name and really want to buy that tool. I ruined a brand new altenator in my old elantra for overtightening the belts and do not want to go through that again once this thing is out of warranty and I begin doing my own work. Thanks


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## Dflosrt4 (Dec 25, 2005)

Mitchell, sounds like they found the problem. That would make very good sense. Well Im glad to hear that they are taking care of you and not screwing you around. If I were i would contact Nissan and inform them on how the service was and how they never fixed your problems with numerous attempts. Maybe they can give you something for your troubles. Dont worry I dont take offense and what you said about Nissan. If a dealer treated me that way I would say the same. There is a belt tension gauge but I have never used one. I kindof go on how tight it feels. If you tighten to much you can wear the bearings inside the pulleys and get alot of noise. If its too loose then it will make alot of noise. I just really go by feel. I havent really had any probs with any belts I have done. You do want to tighten them and little tighter then usual when you put new belts on because they do stretch. Let me know if that bracket fixes the problem.


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## jcivic00 (Mar 6, 2005)

I don't get it? You're getting bad service at a dealership, but yet you keep insisting on going back??


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

Why would I go back to the bad dealership?
I am going to a new dealership right now as of today. The last time I went to the old(crappy) dealership was sometime early last week. I had an appointment for this week at the new dealership, but cancelled and came in today since they(the new dealership that I am now using) had openings.

It probably did sound like I said I was going back to the bad one, but just to clear it up, As of today, I am using a different and much better dealership.



jcivic00 said:


> I don't get it? You're getting bad service at a dealership, but yet you keep insisting on going back??


As long as repairs on my truck will be free under warranty, I will continue to use a dealership, just not the one that I've been having problems with. :cheers:


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## flyfish7786 (Jan 23, 2006)

*noisey pulleys*



mitchell35758 said:


> Thanks for the tip. For all I know, the noise could be coming from the pullies. It is hard to tell anymore. Which pulley exactly were you having problems with?
> 
> I'll definetly give it a shot. I am about to quit all together and just live with using belt dressing on the belts and oil on the pulley's bearings.


 I oiled all of them I could get to, But I did notice the noisiest one was on the bottom. Crawl under your truck and it's the lowest pulley you will see. Don't use WD-40 It has to be oil.
This is going to sound stupid, but what I did was dip a small tree branch in oil and let the oil run down the brach into the bearing. Totally retarded, but it works. I actually learned that trick on one of the sunday car shows on Spike T.V. on getting oil to hard to reach areas. And to be honest, my pulleys no longer squeek.


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

flyfish7786 said:


> I oiled all of them I could get to, But I did notice the noisiest one was on the bottom. Crawl under your truck and it's the lowest pulley you will see. Don't use WD-40 It has to be oil.
> This is going to sound stupid, but what I did was dip a small tree branch in oil and let the oil run down the brach into the bearing. Totally retarded, but it works. I actually learned that trick on one of the sunday car shows on Spike T.V. on getting oil to hard to reach areas. And to be honest, my pulleys no longer squeek.


Hey thanks for the tip. I'm going to have to try that. Probably get around to it coming up Sunday. I'll have to let you know the results.
Thanks again :cheers:


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

Dflosrt4 said:


> Mitchell, sounds like they found the problem. That would make very good sense. Well Im glad to hear that they are taking care of you and not screwing you around. If I were i would contact Nissan and inform them on how the service was and how they never fixed your problems with numerous attempts. Maybe they can give you something for your troubles. Dont worry I dont take offense and what you said about Nissan. If a dealer treated me that way I would say the same. There is a belt tension gauge but I have never used one. I kindof go on how tight it feels. If you tighten to much you can wear the bearings inside the pulleys and get alot of noise. If its too loose then it will make alot of noise. I just really go by feel. I havent really had any probs with any belts I have done. You do want to tighten them and little tighter then usual when you put new belts on because they do stretch. Let me know if that bracket fixes the problem.


Well, all fixed up...I hope.
They put the new bracket on today. My belts and pulleys have never been so quiet before, seriously. I am very impressed with this dealership. Can't be bad to mention the name if everything said about it is good, so here it is. Lynn Laton Nissan of Decatur, AL. By far the best dealership I have delt with for all the cars that I have owned, and Only one of them being a Nissan(my current truck). 
Had another vibration issue after getting my truck back the first time today. Went back inside and talked to them, they got Greg, the guy that worked on my truck today to come out and talk with me. Got him to hear it and left the truck. They scoped around and finally pin-pointed it behind my cat. Because I have a magnaflow now, and all the piping from the end of the cat back was modified, they could not do anything about it without me having to pay. Said the vibration should not be anything to worry about and don't see it causing any damage. Before they found the problem spot, they replaced the final two belts in an attempt to see if the vibration was related to the belt issues I had. They did not fix the problem, but they gave me the belts under warranty anyways. So, now I have all three brand new belts and a fixed tensioner pulley. I'm extremely happy with the results. I can live with the vibration from the exhaust for now, and if it gets rediculous, I'll just through my oem muffler back on which still has the y-pipe for my dual tails from before. So, it all works out. 

Should I go and talk with the service manager at the first dealership, or just call Nissan USA and update them with the exceptional performance at Lynn Laton Nissan? or both?

thanks man :thumbup:

edit: had the vibration on and off before(the one that I make sound like a new one. It never had anything to do with the belts, though at one time I thought it might have. I have gotten under the truck a little while ago and heard the vibration louder away from the engine then near it.)


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