the thing whines in the morning and stops once the car warms up.
Is this a sign that it needs to be replaced?

greg

 

If you have problems starting it may be your alternator going. But it could just be that you need to replace your belts.

 

There is a recall for some 97 and 98 alternators. Search for more info.

 

Whining alternator usually means it's going bad...bad voltage regulator.

 

i had this same problem when i heard the whining noise i had it checked out and the mechanic didnt know what it was really but said it was probally b/c i needed a new belt which was getting a lil dry, so i taUGHT nothing of it and was glad it wasn't my alternator , so I proceeded strolling threw the neighborhood with my sound system blasting thinking i had nothing to worry about b/c all the noise was , was just my belt , then 1-2 weeks later when i was all ready to go relax at the beach my alternator died and i was stuck furious missing the beach and killing my whole day off 9hrs waiting for a tow truck and buying and fixing my alternator, cost me $260 to fix and install

so.. the moral of this story is that your alternator will go eventually and dont travel too far ,and save up some $$$$$$ to fix it when it does go

 

Mine whined uncontrollably for 2 months and one of the mechanics diagnoised it as tranny noise.Tranny noise when the car is idling in P WT*!!.I bought a used alternator for 50 bucks and installed it, 6 months it's running great.Find a shop that can rebuild your old alternator and keep it just in case.
take care,
jay