Pulled into McDonald's to grab some breakfast on my way into work. Came to a stop at the order box and my belts start making a horrible whining / grinding noise, so I put it in Neutral and it stopped. As I start to turn around the corner it starts again, so I cruise into a parking spot and EBrake it in Neutral. Belts are still screaming!! I pop the hood and it looks like they're throwing dirt/grime from the belts (may have been smoke and metal shavings, didn't get close enough to see) and it smells like the rubber's burning almost. I shut the car off, turned it back on and it started immediately. I turned it off for a minute, couldn't find anything that might be hitting the belts, belts seemed like they had enough tension, I didn't see any oil or grit on the belts. I started it up and it screamed a little as I drove the 1/4 mile to work and parked it. I couldn't make it do it again, when parked. Power steering fluid is fine.

any ideas? Possibly related to my current low voltage problems? Could it have been the alternator whining at me? Timing belt? Belts were changed about 45,000-60,000 miles ago

 

I'd probably change the belts because they are kind of old.

Mine did the same thing yesterday, well sort of. They got really loud (droned out the exhaust), I let it sit for a bit, turned it off. Turned it on, went away.

 

If it's throwing stuff at you, shut it off. Examine what is coming from there. If it's rubber, the belts are shredding and you need to replace them ASAP. Make sure you didn't damage anything when you were doing the tranny swap, it DOES happen. Look for dings, dents, or cuts on the pullies too.

Other than that, if it's NOT rubber but metalic, it's probably your alternator committing suicide because you went Manual. LOL Go get it replaced ASAP.

 

Do you think the alternator would be affected by the swap? Would it be throwing metal shavings or just stop working? I saw a little debris coming from the belts and wasn't about to get in front of it. Random metal shavings flying at me doesn't sound like fun .

 

Ehh, if the bearings are going out on your alternator, it could throw tons of stuff mang. I think that sucker is toast. You could have also, as I've seen it happen, dropped something inside the alternator while doing your work. From a small rock to a screw, any of that could devastate your alternator.

 

He was joking about the swap causing the alternator problem but that's likely what it is. Your alternator is dying, maybe has bad bearings, causing extra drag which in turn is causing belt slippage and causing low voltage readings and belt shredding. I would be looking very hard at the alternator as the source of your problem.

 

agreed on alternator, but it may be something else. It sounds like you have binding going on.

 

think I'll be able to make it home from work? About a 15 minute interstate drive (15 miles). Worst that can happen is the alternator dies and car shuts off, right?

 

no the wost that can happen is your alternator will die causing it to run strictly off the battery,which equals a dead battery from the power drain. or your belt can snap causing parts not to run that run on that belt

 

No, the worst that could happen is a fuel truck in front of you could split open, pour gas all over the highway, and the sparks from your alternator could set them in fire, turning you into a eunuch.

LOL