Whining noise and weird smell. :(

[edogg27]

Today on my way home I noticed a weird whining noise that stayed constant with my rpms. The higher the rpms got the louder it was. When I gor home i opened the hood and everything looked fine but there was a burnt type of smell. I check the oil and it was clean and full. Then when i turned my a/c on that smell began to come into the cabin. Im not sure what it is but the car doesnt seem to drive any different. Any ideas?

[edogg27]

So i checked the voltage while the car was started and its around 12.1 volts so i think my alternator is going bad.

[Towncivilian]

Many auto parts stores usually test batteries & alternators for free, go have them tested somewhere. Even the dealer will test your battery for free (not sure if they do alternator testing).

None of the dashboard warning lights are on? Sometimes when an alternator is failing, the brake & battery indicators as well as the "A/T OIL TEMP" (if equipped) lights will illuminate.

[Pathy415]

Check your belt tension, loose belts will also cause whining/squealing and can also cause charging issues.

[edogg27]

no lights are on at all besides the cel which has been on for a while. i took it to autozone and they tested it and said its got not power from the alternator. i checked the voltage from my navigation and it shows around 12.2 when running and 11.8 when off. Thats with the lights and everything off. i looked at the belts ans they look nice and tight they feel fine so looks like ill be getting a new alternator. i found this one on ebay with good reviews and wondered what you guys think. its a high output becasue of my subs i figured it would help the voltage drop.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/220A-HIGH-OUTPU ... 3cb26631b2

[CanuckQx4]

the factory alt is VERY difficult to gain access to, and remove / install

Take that into account if you need to have a shop install it, labour would cost nearly what that alt would, that ebay link to the alt seems almost to good to be true aswell. Thats double the standard amperage for the same price for a quality alt
I wonder if its plug and play with the factory harnesses and such

[edogg27]

thats what i was worried about, they alternator is cheep but from all the reviews it looked good there were 3 bad reviews out of thousands. but the other alternator is 190 amp for 400 bucks. so idk where else i would go.