pancing

997 part replaced old generator checked ALL grounds cleaned rear terminals and dabbed die grease around connectors. cleaned battery terminals and sprayed with lithium grease.

noise is rpm specific louder with radio on and volume up with no music playing.

i have the same noise on my jeep with a 160 amp alternator when fogs and auxillary lights are on total power draw is about 600w from lights only.

Now my question is this, could the car be drawing more power from the higher amp alternator from just being on with ac? Or do i have to go searching for a ground i forgot?

2fcknfst

Did you use a 996 or 997 voltage regulator?

pancing

I was told it came with the voltage regulator so... I guess 997?

2fcknfst

So, if there is different resistance between the 997 and 996 one, it may have different shielding and cause whine. Simply fix to try is to swap them out and check the resitence between the two.

The only other thing that would jump out at me would be grounding, or, if it is a rebuilt unit, tolerances could be tight and may just need to run in and loosen up a bit.

pancing

Will a 996 fit in a 997, if it cant do i just have to live with it? Only oem units i could find was the 997 unit.

I can live with the noise, will it blow anything up?

2fcknfst

There in lies the million dollar question - if it is a straight across part probably, but this is why I suggested checking the resistance of both voltage regulators - of the resistance is different, then that means either the 997 or 996 alternators are providing a specific load to the rest of the car.

Try fitting the 996 regulator to the alternator you just installed - pretty easy, even I could handle it....

pancing

Eh id have to get another regulator and pull the whole thing off just to get to it.

kamlung

i have the same issue with my new headunit. my old aftermarket kenwood did not experience alternator whine, but my new one does. what's interesting is that you are saying that you now have the whine after replacing the alternator but have the same headunit? perhaps your old one was weak and not outputting the same amount of power?

pancing

I have the oem headunit, the voltage seemed to be fine but i just replaced it since i found a new 997 oem unit for 150$. I sent the old one off to get refurbed so ill have a spare...

Im not sure how our power system works, ive changed the battery on my jeep while it was running before so i figure power was fed thru the alternator when car is on. But im not sure i want to figure out if its the same with our cars lol.

2fcknfst

Got it - you exchanged it. I suppose the question should be does anyone know what load the car requires, and, is it any different than the 997? If it is, I would simply swap out the regulator to a 996 one.

I hate trying to diagnose electrical things, drives me nuts.

pancing

i think theyre the same.

2fcknfst

If so, then look at the grounds and make sure none of the jackets on the leads are damaged/torn and that there are good connections throughout.

pancing

yah, ill likey check all that stuff again if i cant get it to go away then ill have to live with it.

pancing

Update: vendor swapped "faulty" alternator with new part. Installed quadruple checked all grounds, nothing was missed, silent absolutely no whine at max volume with nothing playing.

How the hell could a new alternator be faulty.
before i could finish saying there was a whine vendor said hed take care of it yesterday morning and it was at my front door by 11am 2day, vendor said to toss the old part.

is there a reason why they wouldnt want the core back? I mean when i print labels out at work its like 14$ for ups, it isnt that expensive.

Ill keep the generator just in case.

2fcknfst

That's interesting - so likely not assembled properly and/or wrong part?