Help! Should the alternator get HOT?

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Just blasting around tonight trying to tune my alcohol injection (old Jay Carter kit). I noticed after a brief romp the alternator is warm/hot to the touch. Much warmer than the up pipe and almost as hot as the intercooler inlet. What ye say? Is this normal or is it on the way out? I do run Red's volt booster. Also have noticed a squeeling sound from the front of the car that I haven't quite pin pointed, but this doesn't track with revs and it's pretty quiet at idle. Thank ye in advance!

 

[TurboDave]

Pretty normal actually. Mine usually run very hot to the touch.

 

[ACME RACING]

squealing..

My truck and T-Type will squeal and turned out the Accessory belt gets dry...I just sprayed some Armor All or any Silicone spray on the crank pulley and no more squeal..maybe that could be it.. alan

 

[Steve Wood]

The act of generation will create heat...except for cold fusion, most things do.

 

[84WHSTLR]

I've had alternators go bad. Most of them did squeal some first, mostly just for a while after startup. Alternators will get warm with use but shouldn't get really hot. My most recent one ('01 Impala) got too hot to place your hand on, squealed at startup, and you could even feel the bearings rumbling inside by feeling it (before it got too hot). These alternators can still charge (the Impala had surging lights though) but excessive heat might be a sign of something going wrong, although turbo cars will have more underhood heat. Listen closely to the alternator to see if it makes the noise (shouldn't make any) and feel it for vibrations from within it.

 

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Thanks to all for your replies.