Ok for a while now my T/A has been making a squealing noise at acceleration sometimes it will stop after the car has been started for a few mins other times it wont and whenever my foot is on the gas it will make a annoying squealing noise. Ive noticed that it is worst at times when it is cold outside or it has rained or is raining outside, BUT when warm outside it usually does not have this problem! Ive also noticed that when it does make the awful squealing noise that the hand on the voltage meter is usually at the half or below the half and when it stops squealing its a little bit past half on the voltage meter Also when sitting idle at like a stop light it will start squealing when I accelerate and the voltage meter will be below the half.... Does anyone know what could be causing this because I really want this fixed because its sounds awful and it has been doing this for awhile now..... PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!

 

First thing you should do is check the condition of the belt for your alternator (assuming you don't have a serpentine set up). If it looks really dry and cracked, check the "tread" part (inside of belt) that sits on the pulley. If you're belt looks ok, then I would move right to the alternator pulley. If you're belt is in really bad condition then what will happen is when you press on the gas, the crank pulley will turn and your belt won't be able to "grab" onto the pulley and will essentially slip. This will cause your crank pulley to be spinning faster than the belt. Which in turn won't be able to turn your alternator fast enough. Hell, it could even be the belt just needs to be tightened.

Good luck.

Edit: To check the tightness of the belt, pick the most center section of the belt between two pulleys. Press down on it. The general rule is no more than 1/2" to 3/4" deflection, IIRC. If it's more than that, tighten it up and see if it helps.

 

No i dont have a serpentine set up. So you think its the alternator for sure?... and do the symptoms being worse when it is cold or wet and raining outside still point to the alternator

 

Well, maybe not so much the alternator, but more so the problem is with the belt. I would start by checking the condition of the belt and go from there. Your belt may just be really warn or loose causing it to slip on the pulleys.

Things always seem to sound worse when it's cold outside for some reason.