My car seems to be making a soft pulsating noise... kinda squeaky but not too high pitched. From what I can tell, it is coming around the alternator area - could be the belt? You can somewhat hear it on this video most discernible around :15 sec. What do you guys think? It almost feels like there's friction in there and something needs some lubing.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj-ML2jWCzA [/media]

 

By the way, I just got back from around a 20 mile trip after the car had not been driven for about three to three and a half weeks.

 

hard to tell from the video but i think youre talking about the bearing in the alternator being shot.

 

If that is the problem, would that be covered under warranty? I only have 18k miles on the car.

 

Will I be damaging the car by running it this way?

 

Get a fuel line hose and use it like a stethoscope. You can pinpoint exactly where the noise is. I've had bearings go bad and they sound like birds, sometimes they last a week sometimes a year or so making the tweety bird sounds.

 

Thanks. So can I at least drive this thing to say the dealership (about 50 miles)? I guess the better question is, if the bearings are shot, can I drive it temporarily? Will I be damaging other components by doing so?

 

Anyone else have any suggestions or ideas as to what that could be?

 

its hard to diagnosis it from a video take the belt off and spin the alternator, wiggly it back and forth see if it has play.

 

Thank you. If it is indeed the bearing, is it ok to drive it for around 100 or so miles? Will I damage anything else?