Well I haven't driven the car in about three days and today when I started it, it started making this weird noise.. I have no idea what it is, but it seems to be coming from the engine or around it. I have an mp3 here.

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/sevenboy/carnoise.mp3

Any help appreciated, thanks.

 

stumped...bumped.

 

altenrator whine?

 

got a similar whine ever since my battery died.. no clue what it is.

 

Seems so. The Battery light came on my dashboard tonight. Does that mean my battery needs to be replaced? Or can I just recharge?

 

Is the battery and the brake light on at the same time??? If so that means the alternator is bad... At first it sounded like a powersteering pump whine to me....
Go to autozone or advanced, and have them do a free charge check on the battery...

 

Thanks guys.

 

inspect your alt belt, could just be a worn/slipping belt.

 

Yeah both the brake and battery light are on. Going to go see if I can check the belt now.

 

No, it's not the belt.. Which means it is the alternator.. I remember something about a recall on alternators. Anyone have more information on that?

 

Also is it okay if I still drive it around on short trips?

 

Hola,

I just had the same thing happen to me. The battery and brake lights are both on . I'm in the process of changing out the alternator. What you can try doing is while your is on...gas the car to around 4000-5000 rpm. If the battery light goes away at around 5000rpm and goes back on when u let go of the gas...then you need to change your alternator.

Another test you can do is while your car is on, remove the negative battery terminal. If your car shuts off then you have a bad alternator.

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Thanks for the advice.

My battery light did not go away around 5000 rpm. I now think its the tensioner as it wiggles very slightly side to side. I've been told it should not wiggle at all and that possibly someone tighten it too much and a ball bearing went bad and caused this.