Alternator Busted (I think)

My wife came in tonight and told me that the 99 Sonata she just drove home
in was making a terrible noise. I went out and raised the hood and there was
a scraping sound coming from the area of the drive belts. When I went
inside to turn it off I noticed that the battery and the brake warning
lights were on. When I pulled the emergency brake lever up, the brake
warning light got brighter. But it stayed on even when I put the brake off.
Tomorrow I will put a meter on it to see if the alternator is putting out a
charge , but at this point I am assuming that its the alternator. Actually
I am a little relieved because when I first heard the noise, I Imaged all
kinds of expensive thing that could be wrong. With the little light that I
had, I could see that the belt was still on and not broken.
Some questions: If it does turn out to be the alternator.
1) What's up with the brake light coming on also?
2) I've never heard any noise before when a alternator goes bad, is this
normal?
3) How difficult is it to replace the alternator on this car (I4)? I've not
done an alternator in probably over 20 years and I've heard some horror
stories on how hard they are to get to in some cars.
thanks

 

1. The brake lamp comes on because of the way the system is wired for
the indicator self-test. This is a normal occurrence when the
alternator is not charging.
2. lt depends on the failure. I've seen a few alternators where the
bearings failed, which will make noise. Be sure to check the belt
tension and remove the belt so you can check to verify the water pump
turns freely. If the belt slips (either due to undertensioning or a
water pump bearing failure) you'll hear a noise and the indicator may
come on.
3. It's rather simple. Disconnect battery, unplug/unbolt wires,
unbolt alternator. Then lift it out the top. You may need to remove
a connector or solenoid bracket for some additional clearance at the
top.

 

Great that it is a Sonata. When the alternator if that is what you want to
call it,went bad with 34,000 miles on my 2002 XG350. They had to pull the
engine to put on a new one. It was under warranty, thank God. Bad news in
that it was a rebuilt one they stuck on it. If I have the same luck with a
Hyundai factory rebuilt one that I did with the Hyundai OEM, it probably
won't last over 10,000 miles and I'll have to have another engine R&R. When
the 100k bumper to bumper warranty runs out, its going to the boneyard the
first time the check engine light comes on it cause you can make book that
the engine will have to be pulled, either that or I'll do it myself after
going to a trade school class or two. I sure can't afford a $800.00 engine
pull to make a repair with a part that cost 10 dollars.

 

This isn't an easy alternator repair, but it doesn't require pulling
the engine. Quickest way I've found is to remove the radiator fan and
(after discharging a/c) one of the a/c lines. Can also be done by
removing radiator.