Who hasn’t found himself in the situation where his car doesn’t start one morning on the way to work? If it never happened to you , certainly you’ve already had that apprehension. So when you notice an alternator noise on Kia Soul, you can already see yourself breaking down, stuck awaiting the tow truck. That’s why our team has decided to produce this article to help you locate the sources of alternator sounds. In this article, you will first see the role and operation of the alternator in your Kia Soul and then what the causes and solutions to alternator noise on Kia Soul may be.
Role and alternator operation Kia Soul
Alternator role
Your alternator is an fundamental component of your Kia Soul. Indeed, its goal is to provide power to your entire electrical system: headlights, interior lighting, signalling, computer… It will have the task of recharging the battery once the car is in motion, to provide power to the car in motion and to allow you to always have a enough energy reserve to be able to restart the next time.
Alternator functioning
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The alternator works on an electrical principle that has been used for decades, the principle of copper coil wound around a magnet . This coil while spinning generates electricity. It is the engine motor itself that will provide the energy required by the alternator to create the energy, via the accessory belt or alternator belt. When your Kia Soul engine stops, the battery takes over to provide the car with energy.
What are the distinctive alternator noises or sounds on my Kia Soul and what are the causes?
I discover a knocking noise originating from the alternator of my Kia Soul
One of the typical noises of a tired alternator on Kia Soul is a knocking noise. This alternator sound on Kia Soul will most of the time show up when your engine is idling, it can be linked to voltage drops that could disturb the normal operation of electrical components such as headlights for example. In many cases, it is a of both bearings of the alternator that is faulty, to examine it, use a multimeter on the terminals of your car with the engine running and you must get a value between 12 and 14.7 volts, which means that your alternator is recharging your battery well. If the value is lower, the alternator of your Kia Soul is tired and you should think about changing the bearing if it is the only cause otherwise the complete part.
I notice a grinding noise coming from the alternator of my Kia Soul
If you are in the case where the alternator of your Kia Soul generates grinding sounds, in this circumstance you will have to check it more seriously. This symptom can testify as for the knocking sound of a tired bearing, but in most cases, we generally realize by looking more strongly that it is the accessory belt that is loosened or worn and is therefore the cause of it. In this circumstance, we recommend that you look for advice this article to find all the necessary information to solve an accessory belt noise on Kia Soul.
I notice a loud noise from the alternator of my Kia Soul
Experiencing a loud noise from the alternator of your Kia Soul is quite normal, in fact, it emits an audible sound when producing the electrical pulses it generates. It is up to you to examine that the battery indicator light on your dashboard does not appear, and that you do not have a voltage drop when your engine is running (headlight or dashboard light that jumps for example. If this noise is too loud, we recommend that you look into this article to find other ways to solve problem of noises from front end on Kia Soul.
