Now that winter has finally hit rochester at full force, I seem to have discovered a major problem: My alternator has turned funky. As the temperature has gotten lower, I've been hearing noises in my engine bay (pinpointed as being the alternator) until today (3F ambient, -15F windchill...) I discovered that my alternator had gone nuts. The whine had grown into a *howl* on start, and it would appear to not kick in until 1800 RPMs. This seemed to grow better as it warmed up, but even after the engine was running at full temperature, the alternator was still not functioning at bwloe 1200rpms. My lights (now repaired, thanks!) and electrical goodies all dimmed abruptly, and would remain dim until I brought the engine up to speed. Above, I mentioned the alternator "kicking in." I mean this literally. Once I finally hit the magic RPM, I hear a very harsh *THUNK* as it engages. Perhaps of use...from inside the engine bay, the belt to the alternator seemed to jump pretty harshly as the alternator engaged. An additional note...this alternator is supposed to be new. About a year ago, my mother had the original alternator replaced after it failed. I'd be open to getting a replacement alternator, though I cannot really play around with the car for a while, as it's my daily driver.
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1980 240DL, 1984 240DL, 1987 740GLE, 1993 850 GLT