Hi! everyone.

recently, I heard some squeak noise from my engine area. especially, after the fan run for a while.. the noise sound loud.. then become smaller...

however, I thought that might be a problem with the engine bell tension or the pulley was rust....

then i sent to my dealer to check the noise...
finally, we told me that the problem was my engine alternator.... they said the alternator just went back.. a short circuit in the alternator.. but ythey will order a new one for me to replace that under warranty !!

it sounds pretty scared to me... because i don't know does the alternator would affect to my engine or not ?

and i don't know if the car still safe to drive.. ?

does anyone have this kind experience ?

i would like to see some inputs about this...

thanks...

 

Law - As the alternator supplies voltage to all the car's functions when it's running, it does affect things like the fuel pump, ECU, etc. Most people think that the alternator just charges the battery back up but it does alot more than that, especially on today's almost all-electric rides. I wouldn't drive the car too far as it'll be running strictly on the battery now, if the alternator's completely gone or are the bearings simply going out? They didn't have one in stock?

 

Law,

Gene's right. If your alternator is gone and not charging at all you won't go far on just your battery. But noises like this usually come from mechanical problems, not short circuits.

Is your alternator light on? If it is you're running on battery. If the light is not on your alternator is still charging and you should be ok to drive.

What exactly did the dealer tell you was wrong?

 

realmarty:

i checked the alternator light .. but it didn't on.. and the alternator still running like usual...but the noise will appear sometimes ... i still can drive the car just usual... but i felt the car is heavier than before, i don't know is because i just changed my steering ecu..

since the noise appear about one month already.. and i just changed my ecu about a week ..before that ... the still felt just usual.... just can hear the noise....

on the report that my dealer gave me showed..

condition: engine making an abnormal noise
cause: short circuit in alternator
remedy: diagnosis time. necc. to sop alternator.

i don't know what is necc..and to sop alternator..
but they just said that they will order a new one and replace it. ...

thanks.

 

Law,

The new ecu will make the steering feel a little heavier. It has nothing to do with the alternator.

It doesn't make sense to me that your alternator light isn't on and the dealer says you have a short. Only things I can think of is that you have an intermittent problem or your dealer has no idea what's wrong with the alternator but had to put something on the report in order to get you a replacement.

Anyhow if the light isn't on you're probably charging the battery and there's nothing to worry about until the replacement alternator arrives.

Might not be a bad idea to check the water in your battery to make sure it's up to level in case your alternator is overcharging it.

 

"i don't know what is necc..and to sop alternator.. "

Neccessary to swap out part alternator...just abbreviations...

 

anyway.. so far i still dont' feel any wrong with my car now... just noise ...

i think that i won't dirve too much until the new alternator come....

thanks to your all comments....

 

Perhaps it's a power steering problem?

 

If you have access to voltmeter or multimeter, should be easy to determine if alternator is working: when the motor is running, you should see about 14.7 volts across battery terminals. If you only see about 12.4 - 12.6, car running off battery (and alternator light also bad).

I would guess the tech already did that........but it would be unusual for alternator light to be out too. Those just rarely go........

Let us all know how this works out (inquiring minds want to know!!).

 

i just checked my battery with voltmeter ... and it showed 14.14 volt when i running the engine... which means the alternator was working to charge to battery..
and when i stopped the engine.. the volt start drop from 13 to 12v.... which means the car was using the battery.....

they were working right... and i didn't hear any noise from the car anymore......

but most of the time i heard the noise was when i drove my car to somewhere ..and after i parked my car.. and let the engine ran awhile....

then the small noise came out.. then after the fan ran for awhile ... the noise became louder ... then went small.. for several secs..

 

sounds like a bearing problem within the alternator, not a short.

Mind