Steven P

Hi,

So out of no where, I get into my 2010 Crosstour after work, start the car and hear a whinny sound from what I imagine could have been a belt. The car started fine and if I didn't hear that noise, I would not have thought anything could be wrong. I drove home when my car suddenly started losing power and even felt like it was going to stall out a couple times. Thankfully, I was pulling in at home when this happened. I came inside, did some googling and then thought perhaps it was the belt indeed. After inspecting the car tonight, I see the belt is still in tact and the car started perfectly fine. Once I turned the car off and went to start it back up, the electric was so weak that all lights dimmed and the thing would even get close to a start. My lights were dimming and everything the first this this occurred when I got home were I attempted a restart and it wouldn't give. My wide if pregnant and we now have to re scheduled our dr appointment because of this. I really hope I can figure this out soon.

My question is, could it be the belt even if the belt is intact? To me this sounds like a stupid question but felt like it was worth asking. Otherwise, could this be an actual alternator issue? I hear that whinny noise.. could it be the bearings? Also, I read that most times it is not the alternator since it is considered a newer car still. The whine is a steady higher pitch sound and doesnt sound squeeky or adjusts in pitch until I give it throttle.

Thank you for your help

DCFIVER

Yes, the tensioner, idlers or other rotating items could be bad,causing the belt to make noise.
Yes, could be the rectifying diodes. Unplug the alternator and see if the noise goes away.

How many miles? 7 years is pretty old in the automotive world. Ive replaced dozens of Honda alternators on MDXs,Pilots and Crosstours of that model year for this same reason. They all had over 100k on them.

Steven P

Thank you and appreciate the response.

About 86k miles

UPDATE:
The next morning I started the car and the sound persisted. Sitting in the car thinking about what I should do, the sound very suddenly stopped and I was able to go to and from work thankfully and everything ran fine.

My dad suggested I fed it fuel injection cleaner. He thinks I may have filled up with some bad gas from a local Shell.

​​​​However today, the sound came back. I'm using torque and an obdII meter and recorded the sound in the YouTube link below where you can also see the voltage. Since the car is running, it appears to me the alternator is fine judging it holds a constant charge.

​​​​​​Should I still test the alternator or is there any insight or ideas that come up from here?


Thanks again