My Alternator is getting chatty...

[NCheek]

Noticed a little noise from the top of the engine today when I went to jump my '82 for the first time in a few months. Upon further scrutiny I decided that is was the alternator and pulled the truck in the barn to have a closer look. After pulling the appropriate belts off, I spun the alternator with my hand and experienced no abnormal binding, grinding, or noises whatsoever, just a slight bit of free play in the bearings. So I proceeded to turn the ignition to the run position to charge the internals of the alternator, and after doing so, I could feel one little rough spot and hear a faint ticking like what I experienced earlier.

Is my alternator about to implode? Can I take it apart and see if anything is loose or do I just anticipate replacing it in the near future?

Thanks guys.

 

[zpd307]

same here, you should have seen how wobbly the belt was. plus the volt meter was all over the place, really low at start up and then gradually increased as things warmed up. i just changed over to a 3g today....