ok, my cars been sitting for a while and i have some questions about it. before i put it away for the winter the battery had died, well when that happened it took out the starter too. so i got a new battery and a new starter and have them in. now, before all that happened i was getting some intermitent wierd noises which i think came from the alternator... back then the voltage stayed around 13 or just a hair above. well now that i have the new battery and new starter in the voltage guage is showing a TON more than it was and now im getting a knocking noise that im thinking is coming from the alternator... it sounds like a rocker is loose, but its from the front of the engine on the passanger side. if i put a long extention on the valve cover i cant really hear the noise, but if i put the extention on the alt bracket its really loud (would i short it out if i put it on the alt itself? wasnt sure on that). so what do i do about this? the alt has a life time warranty on it, but i dunno if the parts store will take it back just because its making wierd noises. is there anyway for me to test myself?

 

You can safely listen to the alt using the extension, just keep it out of the pulley/belt area. That can get ugly real quick!
There's also a post on the rear of the alt where the power comes out of the alt. This post has power all the time since it's connected to the batt. It should have a rubber cover over it to prevent shorting it out, but still, be aware it's there and try to avoid it with anything metal in your hand.

As an alternative, you can remove the belt, start the eng, and see if the knocking noise is still there. If you have a serpintine belt system, the water pump won't be turning when the belt is off, so limit eng idling time to less than 60 secs to avoid an overheat.

While the belt is off, spin the alt by hand and see if you can hear any bad noises.

 

thanks for the info. iff put the extention on it and see if i hear anything. and i dont have a serpentine belt so pulling the belt off is a pain in the ***, if im ganna do that im just ganna take the thing in to have it tested and possibly replaced.