Alternator bearing lubricant?????

[YW84U]

Alas, I decided to wash out the engine bay after some work, and degreased everything - but **forgot** to cover the alternator


Now, I'm the proud owner of a rather nasty squeal from the front bearing of my relatively new 130 amp alternator. Am I doomed to pull it apart and fix, or if it's caught in time, is there anything in paricular I can spray down there to keep the bearings happy?

 

[puddle jumper]

you could try ??

this is just an idea for a temporary fix,, but you could try the usuall , wd-40 . it should work for a little while , or , you could try some graphite powder(as used for locks and speedo cables,ect,, ) dump it into a spray bottle and add some regular rubbing alcohol, just enough to suspend it in a liquid form , and spray it into the bearing area (probably not a good idea to do while its running if you can help it ) the alcohol will carry it to the inside areas of the bearing cavity and quickly evaporate and leave the graphite behind , and it will lube the bearings till you get the chance to dissasemble it and grease it. the brushes inside the alternator are of a similar type of graphite compound , so anything extra floating around inside the alternator "shouldnt" hurt anything. this is also how they recomend you to lube those squeaky poly-urathane suspension bushings that dont have grease fittings installed in them ,,,

 

[Telford Weister]

I agree with the WD-40 idea, but the graphite idea is a DEFINITE bad idea, because graphite is an excellent electrical conductor (the brushes of most alternators and starters are made from it). Spraying graphite inside the alternator will short it out everywhere the graphite touches, possibly causing a fire.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Haha, good heads up on the graphite. I'd just take it apart now, and use the proper grease. Running unlibed will eat it up in short order. You don't have to cover the alt, just don't spray it full bore next time.