Hi Everyone!

I'm new here and before I start I want to thank anyone who takes the time to help this Jeep loving girl

Ever since I purchased my used 1999 Cherokee whenever I use the air or heat the Jeep makes this horrible squealing noise - which I assumed was the alternator belt. I had it checked numerous times and was told that the belt looked fine and the squealing was probably due to the fact the belt was "stiff"...fine. Whatever. I put up with that since I purchased it in 2007. This past winter I noticed that when it made the noise the battery needle also tended to fluctuate - again, leading me to believe it was the alternator.

Last Tuesday while using the fan (foggy day...steamy windows...wasn't using heat or air really) the squeal was 1000 times worse. I turned off the fan and noticed that the red "Check Guages" light had gone on AND my battery needle had dropped to 9. My question is - is this a definite indicator that the alternator has crapped itself or could something else cause this like: I'm past an oil change, a fuse of some sort, etc? I turned off all my unnecessary things - headlights, radio, etc and crawled my butt home and haven't started it since. Also, if it's the alternator - could it be the brushes or is it the case that once the battery reads 9 I'm looking at a brand new alternator?

Thanks again

 

It's the serpentine belt. Make sure all your pulleys are aligned and your belt is tight. If you need a new one, get the one with continuous grooves, not the one with the segmented grooves.

 

It's either the belt, or possibly the bearings in the alternator. My dad had this happen to the alternator in his Caravan. The bearings started going out and it would bind up and start squealing and the power output would drop. Hopefully it's your belt though, that's a much cheaper fix. Are you sure it's tensioned properly? You could always pick up a new belt for $15-$20 and go ahead and replace it just in case.

 

I have a similar problem in mine. Except when I use the heat/AC, the belt will make some squealing sounds is not a constant thing. It only does it when the RPM's change, but not when I'm holding it steady. Also, my battery gauge just drops all the way down to zero when the "check gauges" light comes on during all this.

 

Put a new belt on as EvilBlackXJ stated, and have your battery and charging system tested. Start enjoying your Jeep instead of worrying about it.

 

when you put load on alternator this can cause a bearing or something to rub in the alternator, I have had that happen before, had mine removed and a guy rebuilt mine for like around $150.

 

Change the belt. If it still does it your alternater is probably toast. Oh yea and welcome to this forum.

 

I just wanted to thank EVERYONE for their most excellent advice!! I took all the information with me when I dropped by the mechanic (it's a new mechanic so I don't trust him yet ) but we think it's the belt and that it does need to be tightened - which is probably why I've heard the noice for so long. Taking good old BlueBear in Monday and hoping I'll be back on the road again