Car smoking under hood/battery light is on????

[ifknrock09]

So as I was driving today I came to a stop and noticed that my car was making a kind of whining sound from under the hood. Almost like something was rubbing against something. Pulled over and checked it out. Popped the hood and smoke rolled out. Smells like rubber. I'm assuming belt. When I sat back in the car I realized the battery light was on. Not exactly sure what the deal is here. Because the alternator seems to be turning and not locked up. And the I see no noticeable wear on the belt. Any suggestions on what this might be? Thanks

 

[BogusSVO]

Timing belt burning through the front cover? AC compressor locked up and that belt slipping?

 

[CoriGst120]

check the tension on the belt may be slipping

 

[dsmcrzy]

Especially check the alternator belt. The 420a has 2 belts. One for the alternator and one for the AC and power steering.

 

[gusu]

I once had a alternator with a bad diode that would smoke like crazy and smell like burning rubber on occasion but typically smelled like electrical burning. The alt light would come on when it would start to smoke.

It would also scream like a effing banshee every once in a while like the belt was losing tension because the bearing would stick occasionally.



Most likely it is in fact a belt issue or a bearing issue. I'd check the tension and try spinning the pulley with out the belt on to see if it gets sticky at any point.

 

[Hillala]

Yupe, like everyone else said, check your belts. It wouldn't take more than a few minutes to take that alt belt off to check the every pulley that comes in contact with it.

There is an old trick you can use just to find out if it's a belt or not... Run some Ivory soap on the contact side of the belt. If you whining sound goes away or starts to go away (depending on the amount you use) the issue if related to that belt in one way or another.

 

[Ghost_92TSi]

I once had a alternator with a bad diode that would smoke like crazy and smell like burning rubber on occasion but typically smelled like electrical burning. The alt light would come on when it would start to smoke.

It would also scream like a effing banshee every once in a while like the belt was losing tension because the bearing would stick occasionally.



Most likely it is in fact a belt issue or a bearing issue. I'd check the tension and try spinning the pulley with out the belt on to see if it gets sticky at any point.

This. When my alternators would go, it would smoke like crazy. (electrical burning, hot metal smell)