Does anyone know how to fix an alternator

Does anyone knows an easier why fix an alternator. Because I don't know if my belt is making the chirping noise. But when I put the belt spray on the belt for away from the alternator the chirping is gone. When I push down the gas peddler a little the chirping still there. But the alternator sounded fine w/o the chirping. Thank you for the help.

The alternator doesn't usually chirp. Your problem could be a wobbly idler pulley or tensioner pulley. Might be worth slipping the belt off and checking these pulleys for slop. Good luck.

I got my Tensioner pulley assembly fixed the other day and it's working like new. Where is the idler pulley is?

I was wondering I check my water pulley and is had some little rust where the little belt pattern is. Does this cause the chirping?

No, I wouldn't think. Was it chirping at all before the tensioner was fixed?

If I ever get to it (not a lot of time lately) I'm gonna be going after my perpetual chirping problem again. I have a spare alternator I'm gonna throw on just to see if the noise follows the alternator or not. Really hoping it does because i feel I've already ruled about everything else out. My issue is very much like yours or sounds like so I'll get back about what i find

washu45 wrote:

Does anyone knows an easier why fix an alternator. Because I don't know if my belt is making the chirping noise. But when I put the belt spray on the belt for away from the alternator the chirping is gone. When I push down the gas peddler a little the chirping still there.  But the alternator sounded fine w/o the chirping. Thank you for the help.

Umm... first do some diagnosis, then if there is a problem do the fix.

Use a wrench to move the tensioner so that the belt is off the pullies. Then turn each pulley with your fingers, carefully to observe whether the pulley squeaks or feels like it is grinding. Each one should turn smoothly. Some of the pullies will turn on ball bearings, they will click lightly as you turn them. Some will turn on sleeve bearings, they will not make noise and even may be a little stiff to turn but if normal will not feel gritty.

If you find a pulley that is gritty, replace it. If it happens to be the alternator pulley, you can disassemble the alternator and replace its bearings, or you can replace the alternator.

If you find a pulley that changes its orientation when you disturb it (smack it with the heel of your hand) replace it.

After you do the diagnosis please post again and tell us the results.

Albertj

I did my quick alternator substitution test today. I'm fairly confident it made no difference to the noise after it was run a couple times. I took a little video of the noise and stuff I'll upload later sometime. I played with the tensioner a little bit while it was running and found if I either remove or add tension to the belt with the wrench, the noise went away and came right back once I let it free again. I would suspect very much that my tensioner assembly is no good if I had not already replaced it a while back when this noise first came along.

turtleman wrote:

I did my quick alternator substitution test today. I'm fairly confident it made no difference to the noise after it was run a couple times. I took a little video of the noise and stuff I'll upload later sometime. I played with the tensioner a little bit while it was running and found if I either remove or add tension to the belt with the wrench, the noise went away and came right back once I let it free again. I would suspect very much that my tensioner assembly is no good if I had not already replaced it a while back when this noise first came along.

Please don't take this the wrong way - but you did not do what was suggested and I can't be much help to you unless and until you do. In case you're interested, here is a little detail:

- slipping the belt off and turning the pullies - all of them - is easier than swapping alternators.
- if the replacement alternator is not new it may be noisy as well - do you really know?
- if you turn all the pullies first you'll find the squeaking ones
- if you don't find and replace the bad pullies they will freeze and frag, shredding the belt and in all likelihood damaging your underhood pad also.
- the noise coming and going with a change in the tensioner (remove or add tension with the wrench) is interesting but not very meaningful, as any pulley along the belt path could be the cause of the noise.

Albertj

I checked all the pulleys and accessories individually when that noise started almost two years ago. Those were the first things I did. I mentioned about it in my turtle thread I think. I just kinda re-hashed the matter in this thread since it seemed very similar to Rachel45's description and I have re-checked all that stuff a couple times since then as I've been playing with it. All the idler/tensioner pulleys are pretty new and feel/sound like such. This squeaking over time has varied back and fourth from almost non-existent to freakin' obnoxious dependent upon nothing that I can repeat.

turtleman wrote:

I checked all the pulleys and accessories individually when that noise started almost two years ago. Those were the first things I did. I mentioned about it in my turtle thread I think. I just kinda re-hashed the matter in this thread since it seemed very similar to Rachel45's description and I have re-checked all that stuff a couple times since then as I've been playing with it. All the idler/tensioner pulleys are pretty new and feel/sound like such. This squeaking over time has varied back and fourth from almost non-existent to freakin' obnoxious dependent upon nothing that I can repeat.

I've said this too. My car does the EXACT same thing....CANNOT figure it out. New belt, new Tensioner, new Idlers. Makes no difference.

FWIW every time I've had squeaks it was a pulley or the tensioner. Squeak free for a year or two now.

AA wrote:

No, I wouldn't think. Was it chirping at all before the tensioner was fixed?

no the chirping was not there before the tensioner was fixed. I had someone look at it and he said the belt dressing making the belt chirp or squeak. He said the belt is good it just the dressing making the belt make that noise. He said everything is all good and the alternator was good too. He said the belt stuff will eventually will be burnt out sooner or later and the belt should be normal again.

I understand a lot better now. On my car it was the alternator bearings. Drove me kinda nuts at the time. Because they did not chirp consistently.

Albertj

Thinking my question will add to this thread.

I'm sure my alternator are taking a crap. I get acceleration chirp that I assume are bearings. It evens out with running time.

As an aside, before I replaced the blower snout seal, I'd leak enough fluid that the belts would fly and the alternator had a constant layer of spin-off fluid.

I called the local rebuild expert. I've been there for something but don't have a memory of what or which vehicle.

I wanted a ballpark $. He said the rebuild would depend on amps. And $75-150.

How can I determine the amps?

If there was a chance I would try the rebuild, that would be a kit question.

A Delco reman alt for my 98 is now less than $140 on RockAuto.com. I'd do that or get a junkyard alt, nobody junks their cars over an alt.

I removed the alternator today and took it to a parts store for testing. It tested OK but I could hear the grind then the chirp. Off load it spins easily. I wanted the chirp confirmed and also found out I need a 140 amp replacement. I'd guess that the 3 on the back of the housing indicated 140.

IFallsRon wrote:

I removed the alternator today and took it to a parts store for testing. It tested OK but I could hear the grind then the chirp. Off load it spins easily. I wanted the chirp confirmed and also found out I need a 140 amp replacement. I'd guess that the 3 on the back of the housing indicated 140.

Again - nobody junks their car over an alternator.  The alt in our cars was used in a number of CBOP 90s-00s cars and are not hard to get at pick-n-pulls.  The pick-n-pull will be able to tell you which cars have an alt you can pull that will fit. You can get 2 and "build" a darn good one from the pair.

I got a used alternator very shortly after buying my car in 2007, IIRC. Due to my original one failing to put out any voltage. Rather than rebuilding it, which I can do, I just found a good used unit for less than the cost of me rebuilding mine.

It has been working perfectly ever since and I even put a 10% overdrive pulley on it making it spin faster than stock and hasn't squeaked, chirped or shown any signs of failure.

Forget what I paid for the used Alternator but was worth it. I do remember asking NAPA what they had for alternators that fit the car and they had the 140 amp as well as another one with a higher amp rating for not a lot of money with a long warranty. This was many years ago, so it may be worth looking at what NAPA has to offer, especially if your using sound system amps or other accessories drawing large amounts of amps.

NAPA is my go-to store. My neighbor's kid is a manager. I've done the research. I use an Auto Zone for testing. My neighbor also fixes repairables for a local junk yard. I'm in for parts.

Curious, what year is your Riv.

You haven't put any info in your sig. Makes it difficult for others to help.