Electrical burning smell from near alternator
07-19-2018, 04:51 PM
#1
Navigator
Thread Starter
Electrical burning smell from near alternator
When I start my 2002 corvette everything sounds fine for a few seconds then a slight whine starts coming from the engine bay near the alternator. I’m not sure if it is the alternator but it’s at least in that area. Then after a little bit longer a smell of what I think is something electrical burning starts to come from the around the alternator as well. I have a code for the right actuator being out but that shouldn’t cause the problem, and when I start the vehicle it says service vehicle soon. Oil life is good and the car has 65500 miles. Help me figure out what this problem is.
07-19-2018, 05:00 PM
#2
Zen Vet Master Level VII
I bet you have a bearing issue and the "electrical smell" is from your malfunctioning bearing overheating the rest of the alternator.
Test it or swap it. Prices are all over the place so shop carefully.
Test it or swap it. Prices are all over the place so shop carefully.
07-19-2018, 05:09 PM
#3
Navigator
Thread Starter
I guess I will probably have to try to replace it. Might be the only way to find out. Do you know if this would cause the alternator to not charge the battery?
07-19-2018, 06:53 PM
#4
Zen Vet Master Level VII
Certainly, it very well could. The bearing going out will place drag on the rotation and mess up the alignment of the magnet (slightly) and cause you system to not charge at full rate. Plus, the squeal and burning noise is a dead give away.
07-20-2018, 11:05 AM
#6
Melting Slicks
As mentioned above, read it and DON'T turn in your old alternator as core: plenty of horror stories!What makes this alternator so peculiar is that it is excited when its regulator receives a turn on signal of 10v at limited current provided by the PCM through the L wire. Not all regulators accept the turn on signal provided by the C5 PCM.
Another distinctive attribute described by Lionelhutz in this post:
The stock alternator has a soft turn-on regulator. You can watch how slowly the voltage increases when the engine starts. So, I suspect the message is caused by some aftermarket units that do not have a soft-start and basically jump to a high duty cycle until the voltage rises and the duty cycle drops again. The PCM is seeing the duty cycle go too high which triggers the charge fault message in the DIC.
Last edited by GCG; 07-20-2018 at 11:13 AM.
07-20-2018, 12:45 PM
#7
Navigator
Thread Starter
Thank you for the replies everyone, I ordered a new alternator. Should be here in a week. I will update if it solves my problem which I think it will.
07-20-2018, 12:47 PM
#8
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CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
Remove the belt and turn the alternator pulley by hand. See if there is roughness or any shaft lost motion. If it spins freely and there is no noise roughness, look for something else.
Do you have an automatic or manual trans. SOME,,, C5 alternators have a dampener/clutch on the front pulley and sometimes they can cause weird issues. Does your pulley have a black top hat on front of the pulley??
As others have stated, your alternator is unique and if you turn in the core, you COULD get an alternator that is incompatible with your system. If it were me and I needed alternator work, I would have it professionally rebuilt at an Alternator Starter shop.
Use a Multimeter and see if the alternator is outputting the correct voltage. The VOLT METER in you IPS does not represent the actual charging voltage. Measure the large BATT Terminal on the back to chassis ground (engine running) and also read directly to the battery terminals. Compare both readings. Should be the same. 13.5-14.5 VDC
Bill
Do you have an automatic or manual trans. SOME,,, C5 alternators have a dampener/clutch on the front pulley and sometimes they can cause weird issues. Does your pulley have a black top hat on front of the pulley??
As others have stated, your alternator is unique and if you turn in the core, you COULD get an alternator that is incompatible with your system. If it were me and I needed alternator work, I would have it professionally rebuilt at an Alternator Starter shop.
Use a Multimeter and see if the alternator is outputting the correct voltage. The VOLT METER in you IPS does not represent the actual charging voltage. Measure the large BATT Terminal on the back to chassis ground (engine running) and also read directly to the battery terminals. Compare both readings. Should be the same. 13.5-14.5 VDC
Bill
Last edited by Bill Curlee; 07-20-2018 at 12:52 PM.
07-20-2018, 12:54 PM
#9
Navigator
Thread Starter
Remove the belt and turn the alternator pulley by hand. See if there is roughness or any shaft lost motion if it spins freely and there is no noise roughness, look for something else. Do you have an automatic or manual trans. SOME,,, C5 alternators have a dampener/clutch on the front pulley and sometimes they can cause weird issues. Does your pullet have a black top hat on front of the pulley??
As others have stated, your alternator is unique and if you turn in the core, you COULD get an alternator that is incompatible with your system. If it were me and I needed alternator work, I would have it professionally rebuilt at an Alternator Starter shop.
Use a Multimeter and see if the alternator is outputting the correct voltage. The VOLT METER in you IPS does not represent the actual charging voltage. Measure the large BATT Terminal on the back to chassis ground (engine running) and also read directly to the battery terminals. Compare both readings. Should be the same. 13.5-14.5 VDC
Bill
As others have stated, your alternator is unique and if you turn in the core, you COULD get an alternator that is incompatible with your system. If it were me and I needed alternator work, I would have it professionally rebuilt at an Alternator Starter shop.
Use a Multimeter and see if the alternator is outputting the correct voltage. The VOLT METER in you IPS does not represent the actual charging voltage. Measure the large BATT Terminal on the back to chassis ground (engine running) and also read directly to the battery terminals. Compare both readings. Should be the same. 13.5-14.5 VDC
Bill
07-20-2018, 12:57 PM
#10
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CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
Try running the engine WITHOUT the belt on and see if you have the same noise. It will NOT hurt anything.
Bill
Bill