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Why does my alternator make a noise when its cold?

Will a bad alternator make a load noise like a loss belt would?

  • I have replaced everything from the idler pully, tensioner and pully, and even 2 belts. Took it to a shop and they said it was my alternator, you can her a noise when you spin it by hand. I replaced the alternator with a rebuilt from a salvage yard and the one i put on made the truuck quit for like 4 hours, then a whine came back, just not as load. i sprayed belt dressing and it is really load now. Getting a new on but not sure if im wasting money. The water pump, ac, and fan have 0 noise when you spin them. any help would be appreciated.

  • Answer:

    you keep trying to save a buck, I understand, that, belive me, but at some point, you have to realize the beairing is bad, and the noise you hear, is the bearing under tension of the belt getting ready to freeze up. STOP USING BELT DRESSING that stuff is crap and if you had a new (not rebuilt, not wrecking yard rebuilt (four hours? that was bad from the minute you put it on) at some point, you have to be tired of messing around, realize that bearing is bad, now, the reason is, most rebuilt do not replace the beairng ok? so buy a new one, it should last the lifetime if the vehicle. it has a NEW BEARING more importantly, yes, it is expensive, if you buy used,or junk yard abused, or any other alternator, make sure it has a NEW bearing in it ok, good luck, the mechanics are all being straight with you, think about this, a noise in a bearing not under load, is going to be LOUD when the belt is on it

chuckc41... at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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Spraying you belt will or could cause it to make noise, never a good idea to do that. I would take the alternator to the auto parts store and have it tested, They do this for free and if it make the noise on the machine then replace.

the bearings on the shaft can fail after some time and they will make noise under a load. actually there should be a bearing in the front and a bushing in the rear.

HI instead of throwing parts at it.. take a pieace of hose about 3' long and hold one end to your ear and move the other end around the pullys and such and you should be able to hear where the noise is coming from.. becarefull of the fan and pullys.

If you replace a worn out part with a part from a junk yard, rebuilt or not, 9 times out of 10 you will replace it with another peace of junk. By the time you count labor for changing out the parts, it is a waist of time and money. The cheapest way out is to get a rebuilt one from Napa or Advance part stores.

start the truck and hear nose, then unplug electrical plug from alternator. If noise is gone then you have a bad alternator. If the sound persists keep digginng

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