Hi. Just noticed this problem...

When my 99 Accord v6 EX coupe is idling....it is making this wining sound. I opened the hood and it seems to be coming from the alternator area...it's kinda a lound wining type sound...is this the alternator going bad? Seems to be from that area or is something else? When I'm accelerating, i don't here it...only when i'm idling...my vehicle has just over 100k on it and its an automatic.

 

that sound doesn't come on too often right, only once a while? Mine is like an "EEEERRRRRRRRR" buzzed sound and I was told that my ABS bump is bad or something. Never bother to check it out for a while now. :dunno:

 

it comes on all the time during idle.

 

so does this sound like an alternator?

would it just make noise at idle?

if so, how long would my alternator last at it's current state? :-)

 

Your noise is definetly the alternator, I had the same exact problem. I have 154k miles. I don't know how long yours will last...it could be 6 days or 6 months. My lights started occaisonally pulsating and the battery light would come on when the engine was revved high, so I knew its time was up. I was quoted $430 from Midas to replace it so I did it myself. I found a brand new one on EBay for $140 shipped and threw it in myself, only took about 2 hours with my helms manual. Would've taken half that if I had had power tools. I should've taken pics while I did it for a DIY but I forgot

If you want to do it yourself and need help hit me up on AIM, PM or email...it's a very easy procedure, just takes some work. I'll take some pics of my Helms manual, I think it's 6 steps long. Anyone can do it themselves, plus it's one of those things that's nearly impossible to screw up.

edit: you should hear the whining noise when you're driving around too. Maybe you're not as in tune with your car as I am or maybe your noise isn't as loud, but mine sounded like a supercharger and the noise was prevalent up until about 3k RPM.

 

98CoupeV6, thanks for the info...ya, i bet it is then...the alternator...thought it was...

You have 154k on a 98....man you drive a lot...i thought I did...i have 108k on a 99.

 

please don't continue to drive it with the alt whining like that
the '98 to '02 V6s use a GM sourced (delphi) alternator, a mistake.
One of the diodes has popped inside, which causes charging current to feed back into the alternator itself. Start the car from stone cold and feel how hot the alt will get in a matter of seconds.

Have seen several near fires from this on GM cars, and you don't want that to happen with yours.

 

Damn...I drove while mine was like that for around a month, and about 2000 miles. I DID notice how hot it got but assumed it was normal and I'd never noticed it before, and assumed the whining noise was due to bad bearings on the inside. Great info, thanks :thumbup: Good thing I changed mine!