New not so good noise
 

Well I guess I was overdue for another problem... So it finally got warm up here in MN a couple days ago, and wouldn't you know it I got a new noise coming from the engine bay. It is a definite loud clicking noise... doesn't sound very metallic and is coming from the alternator/air box area! At first I thought that the belt was hitting something, but that is definitely not the case. It increases speed with rpms of course. My question is, has anybody every heard of the alternator making a clicking noise?! There is also a chance that my ears might be messing with me and that it is coming from the top front of the engine :( I really hope this is not the case. Any thoughts?

Well I just went back and listened some more, and it sounds more like it is actually coming from the throttle housing area or right under it at the balance shaft. The throttle housing is definitely vibrating in sync with the knocking. This actually makes me fear that it may be the intake valve on the 1st cylinder a little more :eek: I hope this is making sense to somebody...

Ya might be lucky, and it turns out to be nothing more than a cam follower being a little cruded up, and little noisy.

Ya might wanna get yourself a cheap pair of mechanics stethoscope, and then maybe it will help pin point the location of the noise? Harbor Freight sells 'em pretty cheap.

Altenator and "clicking noise"........no.....I've normally seen/experienced a bearing growl/whirring noise from it. Your idiot light acting normally?

Haha thats exactly what I did after I made my last post. So I just listened around for about 15 minutes... both balance shafts and the head seem to sound normal. I also wasn't getting any unusual noises from the block. The injectors all sound normal. The noise is definitely the loudest at the base of the throttle cam on the throttle housing. I can pick up a higher frequency of the noise on the altenator. Which one is the resonance frequency... i dont know. The noise is very loud and this is not making sense to me. Why would it be the loudest at the base of the throttle cam?

Take the alternator belt off and start the car. If the noise stops, it's something that is driven with the belt. If it continues, then put the belt on and look further.

Well it is definitely the alternator. The pulley actually has about a half mm movement side to side in it and is causing the nasty vibrations and clicking sound that I am hearing. Now it is time to find a place up here that can change it for me without charging an arm and a leg. Too bad I live in an apartment now and don't have a garage that I could work on this in, because I could definitely change it in a couple hours with no problem. Anybody have an experiences with any mechanics by down town St Paul that I could limp my car over to without having to get it towed?

Use a long extension cord and drop light...wait until late night when management has gone home and all neighbors are asleep....or take it to a friends or relatives home. It's not like it involves leaking fluid or anything. That's what I would do.