Ominous Alternator noise!

[Eric Siepmann]

Started hearing a squeaking sound emminating from under the hood. Thought it might be a belt or bearing. I checked the belt, which looks new, and there pulleys/bearings are also in good operational order. Seems to be coming from the alt.

Is this a sign that the alt is going south on me? How involved is the repair for a noob mechanic?

Thanks,

EwS

[Bowtracer]

Take a long screw driver & hold one end on the alt & the other end up to your ear! That should tell the story. Sort of a stethoscope sorta thing!
Peter

[Eric Siepmann]

Peter you speaking from past experience? You forgot to tell me to stand in a puddle of water...

EwS

[Bowtracer]

Eric, this works I am not yanking your chain!

[BarryO]

At 12 volts, standing in a puddle of water is no hazard.

Pulling an alternator is easy. Take it to an alternator/starter repair shop.

[Eric Siepmann]

For real? OK. I'll give it a try this weekend.

EwS

[Bowtracer]

Eric where in Chi town are you! I will be racing out of Montrose SAT & SUN.

[Bowtracer]

you must be a cop or a fireman. jk I passed through your hood. I took Peterson out! If you get this tonight pm me your phone # & I will call on my way out Sun.
Peter

[Davis]

If it is a squeek, spray some belt-stop-squeek spary on the belt. Or do what I do and hold a bar of soap on the inside of the belt while the car is running (carefully!) and the slip goes away (assuming the belt is the right tightness). The best thing to do is to loosen the belt to the alternator and run the car and see if the noise is still there--if it is, loosen the other belts one by one (but only run the truck a short time only). It could be a belt, or it could be a bearing (alternator/water pump, ect). Check the belts for small frays. If you have a serpentine belt (and I think the 97's do, but am not sure) then I would first check the belt tension, then use the soap, and then check the alternator bearings.


Changing a bearing in an alternator is easy if you are mechanically minded. Bearings are cheap.

[Eric Siepmann]

you must be a cop or a fireman. jk I passed through your hood. I took Peterson out! If you get this tonight pm me your phone # & I will call on my way out Sun.
Peter

Peter, Sorry I missed you was out riding my Mountain Bike.

I am an accountant actually. The return on Chicago Real estate on the north and near north is insane after only 2-3 years, so I went in on a venture with a few freiends to get some cash.

You part of the CLRC?

EwS

[BarryO]

So did you figure this out? I have the same type of squeak.

With the hood up, it seems to loud and unmuffled to be coming internally from the engine. I'm hoping the worst it can be is an alternator or pump bearing.

[Eric Siepmann]

I was a bearing. I don't remember which one though. Been awhile. I ended up getting the same Bosch used by the factory for the cold climate upgrade.

Basically, once that bearing noise showed up I just replaced it a a matter of fact.

[BarryO]

An alternator bearing?

Where did you get the replacement?

[Eric Siepmann]

Yeah, I believe it was. It was so long ago I can't remember what exactly was wrong with it but it was some bush or bearing that was causing the noise or where it was in the Alt. A new Bosch was cheaper than a reman (I bird-dog for the shop so he cuts me some good deals for referrals). I took this one into my mechanic as I really didn't have the time to look at it in depth due to work. He showed me the old unit before shipping and the Merrelli was about to grenade anyway so I just had him replace it. I gave it a cursory review and left it at that as the shop is pretty stand-up and have never tried to upsell me or replace crap that worked fine.

I do not know where he got it from. It was the correct OEM replacement Altenator for cold starts though. I checked when I picked it up. No probolems to date. Knock on wood.

Sorry, not much help other than I got the checkbook out.

EwS

[BarryO]

Thanks.