Whining Over Radio -- Bad Alternator? (96 Saturn SC2)

Could be the brushes are worn on the alternator field coil. Also might be
that the suppressor that is mounted externally on many alternators has
failed. Check this and any ground straps FIRST before doing the more
expensive repairs. You can also disconnect the alternator wires to see if
the whine goes away to verify that it IS the alternator. Ground straps at
the alternator and radio to frame ground are very important in keeping the
radio signal clean.

> wrote in message
...
> Hello, I have a 96 SC2 with 112K miles. Just the other day, a
> whining noise started via the radio's speakers that changes pitch with
> engine RPM changes. Could this be anything other than the voltage
> regulator (i.e. can I fix this any other way than buying a new
> alternator?). The battery is 3 mos old, and the alternator was
> replaced at 40K miles, so it has about 70K and 6 years on it. Thanks
> much in advance for any suggestions.

Hello, I have a 96 SC2 with 112K miles. Just the other day, a
whining noise started via the radio's speakers that changes pitch with
engine RPM changes. Could this be anything other than the voltage
regulator (i.e. can I fix this any other way than buying a new
alternator?). The battery is 3 mos old, and the alternator was
replaced at 40K miles, so it has about 70K and 6 years on it. Thanks
much in advance for any suggestions.

Try checking and cleaning the battery-to-frame ground strap and the
alternator-to-frame and alternator-to-battery connections.

Normally I'd suspect the battery going bad but it's only 3 months old.

Tim.

You could put a noise suppression filter from Radio Shack on the leads to
the radio but that would be masking the problem which may be a defective
alternator diode. As mentioned, you could also have a bad ground somewhere.
A voltage difference of just 0.5 volts in some poor ground connection can
show up in the radio as a lot of noise.

Fwiw, I just put a Radio Shack noise suppressor (the $15-20 larger one with
the three wires (blue, red, black) on a motorcycle to suppress the
alternator whine in the communicator/mixer and mp3 player. Oddly, it
worked.

B~

> wrote in message
...
> Hello, I have a 96 SC2 with 112K miles. Just the other day, a
> whining noise started via the radio's speakers that changes pitch
with
> engine RPM changes. Could this be anything other than the voltage
> regulator (i.e. can I fix this any other way than buying a new
> alternator?). The battery is 3 mos old, and the alternator was
> replaced at 40K miles, so it has about 70K and 6 years on it.
Thanks
> much in advance for any suggestions.

The infamous 'death whine' of a Saturn alternator going bad.

70K miles and 6 years isn't bad for an alternator on an "S" series
Saturn.

Ken (MI)

Whining on the radio? What - "MisterFact" now buying broadcasting spots on
FM for his crap?

> wrote in message
...
> Hello, I have a 96 SC2 with 112K miles. Just the other day, a
> whining noise started via the radio's speakers that changes pitch with
> engine RPM changes. Could this be anything other than the voltage
> regulator (i.e. can I fix this any other way than buying a new
> alternator?). The battery is 3 mos old, and the alternator was
> replaced at 40K miles, so it has about 70K and 6 years on it. Thanks
> much in advance for any suggestions.