Q: Burning wire smell coming from the alternator
My truck began to make a howling noise while driving yesterday afternoon under the hood I checked all the fluid levels everything good and today I cranked it up still howling on my way home the battery light came on but its brand new I let it sit and cranked it up again battery light was off but after running for like 5 minutes it came back on and smoke was coming from under the hood smelt like a wire was burning the smoke was coming from the alternator what should I do
My car has 163 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.
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The howling sound you are hearing is most likely your alternator failing. When it starts to make this kind of sound, this is a sign of the bearings inside beginning to fail (hence the whining noise) or the diodes inside failing which is what will cause it to also fail to charge the battery correctly. You are driving on borrowed time right now and should have this fixed very soon as it is only a matter of time before it fails completely. If you need help with this repair, I would recommend having an expert form YourMechanic come to your location to diagnose and replace your alternator as necessary.
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