While trying to dianose another issue I have, I removed my alternator belt and noticed if I free-spin the alternator by hand, it is rather loud. It seems to spin smoothly, but sounds kind of "tinny" and might have a little bit of play in the pulley. Does this sound normal for an alternator? It has about 50K miles on it. I do have some light dimming issues when tapping the brakes and in higher RPM so Im wondering if this could be another sign of it on its way out.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RTW &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">While trying to dianose another issue I have, I removed my alternator belt and noticed if I free-spin the alternator by hand, it is rather loud. It seems to spin smoothly, but sounds kind of "tinny" and might have a little bit of play in the pulley. Does this sound normal for an alternator? It has about 50K miles on it. I do have some light dimming issues when tapping the brakes and in higher RPM so Im wondering if this could be another sign of it on its way out. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Drive it until the bearings burn up.

Hmm... I can't say that I've played with an alternator that wasn't either short or new.

-Chris

 

Maybe the bearing on the alternator is the source of your noise ....

 

Bump b/c i have the same tinning sound coming from the alternator area.

is there anything else around that area that could have a bad bearing making the tinning sound?

 

The dimming happend to me too, check the Voltmeter reading on the alternator side, Should be BWN 12.5 to 14.5volts.

other than that , let it make noise till it goes. what s the worse that could happen.?

 

my alt still makes that noise but it hasnt died yet. Its hard to tell if my dimming lights at higher RPM is getting worse or not. but its definitely noticable and I never noticed before. Im in the process of getting a new alt soon and will see if that helps.