Is this an alternator problem?
 

Good morning, All-

New mystery problem with my 2002.

- Starting when cold. It cranks, but takes several tries before it turns over.
- High-pitched whine. Once it starts, there's a noticeable high-pitched whine that gets higher on acceleration.
- Dash lights pulse slightly. Enough to notice.

I'm thinking it's the alternator. But, would a bad alternator cause the cold starting problems?

Thanks-

M

takeyour truck down to the nearest parts storeand they should be able to test your alternator and battery and tell youwhats wrong. with the high pitch whine, i would remove the belt and spin each pulley by hand and which ever one whines or squeaks is your problem.

Ryan-

Thanks, will get the alternator checked.

One point of clarification: The 'whine' is more of a high-pitched buzz than a squeak.

In other words, it doesn't sound like a bad belt.

The pitch of the buzz gets higher upon acceleration.

i didnt say the belt was bad, the easiest way to see what pulley is making noise is to pull the belt off and spin each pulley by hand. so lets say that you removed the belt and you spin the alternator pulley by hand, and when you spin it by hand it makes a whine noise, that means that the alternator is making the noise and has to be replaced. but the most commom source of a whine noise is low power steering fluid, so check that also.