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Car was making a whine at 2000rpm, got higher with revs. Thought it was the alternator, which incidentally was charging at 13.5 + volts, so took the belt off, the whine still persisted, seemed to be near front top of motor. Put the alternator belt back on, now the alternator doesn't charge. What did I do wrong? (the whine is not the water pump, I changed that 200km ago.) Whine has got louder aver the last 300 km or so, car still runs fine. Also what could that whine be? 192,000km. 3.2 X300 1997
Last edited by Goldint169; Aug 25, 2024 at 03:02 AM.
The A / C idler pully on the cars right is famous for this
You might be able to get some spray lube at the front of the sealed bearing only and give a test but this is short lived lubrication
The idler pully is cheap and commonly avail at the auto parts store as a gates part #
There are some tricks to removing it and do not strip the 4 sided head of the long vertical tensioner adjustment bolt , you can pound an extra certain sized socket on it with the 4 sided socket hole pointing down
The pully center bolt has to be loosed for the pully to adjust along the long vertical bolt
There are some more tricks to having the long tensioner bolt to break loose and loosen ( spin ) from myself doing the job
I think you are right! It sounded like the alternator, but isn't, so I will try what you recommend. What a great forum this is. I have created another problem running the car with the alternator belt off, now it won't charge! Any ideas? could I have blown a fuse or worse?
Originally Posted by Parker 7
The A / C idler pully on the cars right is famous for this
You might be able to get some spray lube at the front of the sealed bearing only and give a test but this is short lived lubrication
The idler pully is cheap and commonly avail at the auto parts store as a gates part #
There are some tricks to removing it and do not strip the 4 sided head of the long vertical tensioner adjustment bolt , you can pound an extra certain sized socket on it with the 4 sided socket hole pointing down
The pully center bolt has to be loosed for the pully to adjust along the long vertical bolt
There are some more tricks to having the long tensioner bolt to break loose and loosen ( spin ) from myself doing the job
Thank you for your help. I have checked the fuse at RHF #10, and all others that I thought might somehow be associated with the problem, no blown fuses. I think it should be a simple thing. I took the belt off the alternator, and ran the car on the battery, then put the belt back on. No charging from the alternator, but car still runs from the battery. I have looked at the wiring diagrams that you recommended, but to be honest, I struggle with those. Could I have damaged the alternator, by running the car without it? Can't see why, but as you can see, I am no expert. I live 15 minutes from town, don't think the car would run that far on the battery, so last ditch effort is to get an expert to sort it, is not easy. I wouldn't be confident that AA would be the answer.
By no battery charging , are you sensing that from the battery draining overnight vs. an engine running test ?
Or the instrument cluster voltage gauge observation which is very accurate
still no alternator red light ?
Pics coming
The alternator large B + post will read 13.5 to 14.5 turning
From there , there are a 3 or 4 terminal post to check on the way back to the battery positive post
Went over never install battery backwards and never over tighten the battery positive post bolt , positive post car fwd , place tape on the battery with a marked arrow
Last edited by Parker 7; Aug 28, 2024 at 08:09 PM.
The instrument gauge shows that there is no charging, and I ran the motor for a short while on the battery, then it spluttered and died, the voltage of the battery was down to 11.85v. So I assume that also means the alternator is not charging. Haven't moved the battery, or overtightened the terminal, and it is installed correctly. Will check the alternator large B+ post. Thanks again for hanging in there with me.
There is a TSB ( corrosion ) on a connector between the # 10 fuse and the round bulb insulated round connector on the alternator ( VR connection ) , round 2 small wire connector attached on back of alternator ?
The alternator can be removed and a auto parts store will put it on a spin up machine for printed results , but that is another job down the testing path
TSB coming
Pics coming
Last edited by Parker 7; Aug 28, 2024 at 08:23 PM.
Your initial post was for squeal as this may be the alternator belt not turning as a failed main pulley / harmonic balancer
Easy test from Al
Mark pulleys with white paint with belts still installed , run engine with high electrical load , this includes A / C for A / C compressor belt at harmonic balancer pulley , stop engine and the marks should still line up
This is a pic from Al with his 3 pulley supercharged AJ16 engine ( yours )
Whine in motor, not alternator
Thank you
