vehicle has been running fine except for some tranny issues. Now I hear a sort of whining sound from under the hood but I cant make out what it is. It sounds almost like the power steering pump has gone bad but the sound comes from the other side of the engine compartment. Also, the tailpipe is leaking condensation more than normal which is unusual, espacially for this dry weather in tucson. Any suggestions on where to start would be helpful.

 

If you can hear this noise at idle with the hood open you can use a long screwdriver as a stethescope.
Be extremely careful to stay clear of the fan blades.
Put the blade of the screwdriver on the alternator and the handle to your ear. Try this on the p.s pump and the a/c compressor and the belt tensioner.
Hopefully you can locate the noise this way.

 

so I did what you said and the noise is coming from the alternator. The bearings must be shot, right? Is the a repair kit or should I just but knew. Any recommendations?

 

I just bought a new alt because mine died. But they do make many replacment parts for altenators so if you wanted to go through all that then find out whats wrong first, buy the parts and then just replace them. If I were you I would just buy a brand new one for $130 like I did, then take the old alt apart and find out whats wrong. Get the right parts and fix it. Then sell it on ebay...