Interesting problem under the hood

Been gone a while, I know, been busy and the Riv has been alright till now. Yesterday I noticed the riv being a little louder than usual. I wrote it off as being caused by the colder fall air.

But when I got home today after the problem happening I smelled a strange ordor. I know what oil and coolant smell like, and this was not it. It was more of a plastic/rubber ish smell I guess.

And by louder I mean it is like whiney-er I guess. I can hear some engine component being louder than it should. It almost sounds like something on the accessory belt like a pump whinning louder. I am pretty sure the two issues are the same problem. But what problem? It sounded like it was coming from the alternator area. I heard it because my roommate reved the engine while I listened.
Any help would be awesome.

EDIT: oh and I noticed the riv being slightly sluggish when I started hearing the noise, not a bad sluggish, but with temps around 60F it was driving like it was 80F

Change all your idler pulleys before they disintegrate.

Listen closely to the alternator, check it's temperature and output voltage, or have a mechanic check it out. Mine mechanically failed at only 35k miles, whined like an extra supercharger for a month until I figured it out.

It sounded like the alternator, I just didn't know they made such a noise. I'll check it out.

And as for the pulleys, I know! I will change them soon, but I don't think it is them causing this problem.

Thanks!

power steering resov full? clear-ish in color?
if your getting a burnt smell then you may want to take the belts off and turn the pulleys each by hand feeling for any loose or grining pullies. or take a long screw driver to each while running and listen for bad bearings.

the powerstearing is under the alternator so the noise and or smell could be coming from that.

I'll check that in the day. Personally I think it is a pump issue, but my diagnosis is harldy right lol. Thanks for the advice.

If it is the PS pump what are the chances I may have shot it? I worry about these things.
Thanks again! Will update tomorrow

The fluid level seems to be at a proper level when cold. The fluid is a dark brownish color tho. Should it be clear?

it is clear when new :/ looks kinda like DOT3.

you could try sucking as much of the old stuff out and replacing it with some gm "cold" PS fluid. i would use a turkey baster and fish tank hose. thats what i used at least. or you could take it somewhere to have them flush it.
if the level is alright, then this probably isnt your problem, but it wont hurt to clean it up some you may even feel some improvment in steering.

I bet I would feel an inprovement so I will do that sometime.

However I started the car up and tried to look at other things. The first thing I noticed was the smell was familiar. Not familiar to cars tho, but familiar to metal working like working with high heat and or welding.

After a couple minutes I swore the sound was coming from the alternator area. I touched the alternator to see what I could feel, and damn was it HOT! It didn't burn me but it scared me. More than a half second and it would have burned me. Now I did a test on my Impala and it did not get above slightly warm after at least twice as long.

Anyone have part numbers on an alternator? I know the original is no longer made and there is one or two compatible replacements. Thanks