Not sure what this noise is??????????

[robert]

I currently have a 98 firebird 3.8 that's begining to make a light ticking noise at acceleration I don't know exactly where it is but it sounds as if it's coming from the alternator but I'm not sure and the car doesn't make that noise right away mainly in colder weather does anyone know what that is or expireneced it and know how much it would cost to fix?

Also my a/c compressor just went out but I bypassed it for now could that have anything to do with it?

[Inferno]

Re: Not sure what this noise is??????????

check your pulleys. pour water on them one by one and see if it goes away.

[Rob Bell]

Re: Not sure what this noise is??????????

Can you reproduce the ticking noise by just revving the engine, or does the car actually have to be moving? If you can rev the engine to get the ticking noise, use a length of hose as a stethoscope and listen around to isolate where it's coming from.

[robert]

Re: Not sure what this noise is??????????

Can you reproduce the ticking noise by just revving the engine, or does the car actually have to be moving? If you can rev the engine to get the ticking noise, use a length of hose as a stethoscope and listen around to isolate where it's coming from.

It only makes the noise when I'm driving not on exceleration but I can swear it sounds as if it's coming from the alternator ? Is that a common sound for a bad alternator ?

[Inferno]

Re: Not sure what this noise is??????????

your alternator spins whether your car is moving or not.
Take your belt off and run the car and slowly rev. tell us if the noise goes away or not.

[HeadyFirebird'00]

Re: Not sure what this noise is??????????

you cant take off the belt and run the car.

[speedingturtle]

Re: Not sure what this noise is??????????

you can start and run your car w/out the belt, but for a short time. without a belt, the car is running off of the battery. i only know this because i threw a belt on a car some years back and didn't know it, i got home and started it up, and it died on me a few minutes later.

[ssms5411]

Re: Not sure what this noise is??????????

I've taken my belt off to find noises all the time , I wouldn't drive it for extend amount of time or let it run for 15 minutes but you can take it off to see if the sound goes away and see if the balancer is not shaking around making the noise. Thats how I found my really bad ticking noise before when my balancer had dy rotted from the inside out. Yours sounds like a bad pulley somewhere.