Okay a brief summary, 1998 Altima with 137k, 100% stock, pretty much 100% reliable, no major issues so far. Today after work I went to leave the house and got the e-brake light and battery light on the cluster along with a weird whirling noise (kind of like when a power steering pump is running dry) and a slight smell reminiscent of burnt clutch. As soon as I noticed it I pulled into a gas station (about a mile from the time I started driving). After checking things out I drove another mile to the nearest parts store but half way there the noise stopped and the lights went away.

Figuring if it was gonna break I wanted it to happen then rather than on my way to base in the morning tomorrow so I drove across town to Petsmart and everything was fine there and back. Now I'm extremely mechanically inclined and experienced but oddly enough I've yet to have an alternator go out on me so is this typical of one going bad or could there have been something causing a temporary friction on the alternator? Everything I've seen leans more towards them just going out rather than being an intermittent problem.

It did it again today while I was at the gate waiting to get on base. I was just hoping it was going to die right there and have the guards go FPCON DELTA on me for being suspiciously stalled.

Anyways, as soon as the lights came on the noise started back up, like a cross between a supercharger and a low power steering pump. I had my a/c off, lights off, stereo on low but it's like the alternator has some super drain on it. All the typical stuff is good, newish battery, clean connections and terminals, alternator is up high so it doesn't have any dirt or debris on it, hasn't been exposed to water or anything. It's just weird because it starts making this god awful noise, the lights come on and after 20 min or so the noise stops and the lights go away.