My new alt. is making rattling/sqeaking noise. I thought it was the power steering pump at first, then I used my good ol ear close, and guess what, its the alt. Its only 3 or 4 months old too!!!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Is it warrantied?

Just curious. Is it a New new or Rebuilt new alternator. I was always under the impression that you can't buy bone fide new alternators today. That all replacement alternators have been rebuilt in some way/fashion. Where did you get yours?

What is the belt tension like? If your running too much tension the bearings will fail prematurely?

I never knew we could control the tension on our serpentine belt?

its a reman from autozone, the $99 duralast

sometimes it doesnt take long for them. It all depends on the workmanship on the rear bearings. I had mine go like that to, only i noticed it when the rear bearings shot out of the car! lol

It also depends on how it died in its past life. If its electricals quit, they would have fixed those but not necessarily done anything to the bearings. If the bearings failed last time, they would have replaced those, but might have left the electrical areas untouched, so its next failure will be electrical instead of mechanical. You get the idea. (Of the three alternators replaced in my car, only the first one developed bad bearings; the next two just quietly stopped generating anything.)

Yes, yes, the rebuilders claim to check everything when the unit is overhauled, but we all have plenty of stories about how believable _that_ should be.

DP units are completely redone with needle bearings i believe.

just go to a wecker and for like 30 bucks pick up two alternators off of Bonnevilles, Oldsmobiles..as long as its a newer 3.8L you should be fine, correct??? I bought a remanned one a few months ago, still does its job, knock on wood.