The car is an 02 Maxima SE 6MT.

While driving over the last couple days, I've started hearing the tone of the engine start to develop a bit of a whine. As accelerate it get's louder.
It was definitely very noticeable today. I also noticed that there was white smoke coming off of the side where my oil cap is.

The car seems to drive fine despite these 2 symptoms and there is no CEL. The car wasn't overheating.

I recently topped off oil and while not paying attention managed to spill maybe a cup of oil.
I tried to wipe it off but I'm sure there were still some left.

My theory is that it's this oil I spilled that's burning and some might have gotten onto the belts which is the cause of the whining noise. Does this seem possible? I feel like I've had this happen before and it eventually went away without me doing anything but keep driving.

 

Yes and may have dropped into the Alt do not degrease your alt without disconnecting the battery.

 

+1 to that... I used to have a Galant VR-4 Limited and replaced the PS pump which happened to be right above my brand new alt. and I got PS fluid all over it and I thought I was hosed! Took an entire bottle of electrical parts cleaner and an overnight dry inside before I had the nerve to put it back in. Turned out OK thank God.

 

Any recommended degreaser?

I'm really trying to avoid having to take off the belt. Should i just apply some and i guess clean it off with water?

 

Maybe some CRC BrakeKleen. Toxic stuff, but some of the best degreaser I've ever seen. Wear some nitrile gloves. It dries itself.

 

So I guess I was wrong about oil getting on the belts. Took a look at them and they looked clean and dry which is a good thing.

Now for the much worse...
While driving last night, that whining noise was still there and there was still that smell coming from the passenger side. Eventually when I hit the city and had to go through stop lights, my car would struggle picking up from first gear and i thought it went into limp mode.

I noticed as this was happening that the lights dimmed. At first I thought I had stupidly tried to start my car in 3rd gear instead of first, but then tried revving it in neutral before dumping it in gear to get it moving. Once it started moving, the car was fine but once I came to a dreadful stop and had to start picking up, I'd have to do the same thing.

Eventually I couldn't get it up a hill and shut off the car and it didn't turn back on.
Had to get it towed last night and when they tried to jump it the car started immediately. While the car couldn't start, i heard clicking but no cranking. All electronics still worked.

Does this sound like a bad alternator? Any help is appreciated.

 

Check your voltage with the car off. It should be around 12-12.5V, Then, if you can get it started, check it again with the engine running. It should be over 13.5 and under 14. The whining was probably your alternator so either you have a bad battery and it's killed your alternator in which case you'd need to replace them both, or your alternator is bad only and the battery just needs a charge.

 

I'll try and do that. I'm not at the car right now so I'll do it over the weekend.

In the meantime, it might be useful to know that while the car couldn't start and all I could hear were clicks, I could still use everything. Horn, headlights, radio, windows, etc. with the car in ON but not running.

When it got jump started for me to park it, it started easily and stayed on until i shut off the car. as soon as the car was shut off though, it wouldn't start again.

 

did you ever figure out your problem? sorry to bring this back from the dead, but this exact scenario happened to me tonight in the mcdonalds drive thru. earlier in the day, there was the same whine, same white smoke from that area. next thing i know, AT, Airbag, TCS OFF, and SLIP lights all come on in the drive thru, car dies. Wouldnt start, had to get a jump while cars behind me lined up. Worst **** ever. Either way, wondering how you ended up resolving your problem.

 

Having the "AT, Airbag, TCS OFF, and SLIP lights all come on" is a classic sign for the Alternator dieing ... further back in this thread you will note the correct voltage that should be coming from the alternator, my best guess is going to be that your alternator is only putting out 6 volts or less and will require replacement.

 

I went to a junkyard and got one for 69 bucks, 1 year warranty. Load tested fine, and had 80k on it. Ill be happy if I get a couple years out of it. Now on to replacing it and the belt, hopefully it fixes the problem

 

First off, pressure wash under the hood and re-check after a day. You could even first spray simple green lightly around then pressure wash it away.