We were about 2 hours from home today in another town. At one point we could smell something burning and a whine noise. Pulled into our destination and opened the hood.

The alternator was smoking. At this point also noticed that the caps on the battery were all popped up. A couple hours later we were ready to go home. I felt the alternator and it was still warm.

Started the van and all sounded normal. Drove home.

At home I tested the voltage while running 14.6 volts. small whine sound from alt. Caps on battery fine... Shut it off and an hour later still have 13.8 volts on the battery. Smells burnt too in the garage.

Whats going on here? Thanks for any help you guys can give on this.

You would think that if it was overcharging the check engine light would be on and if equipped the voltmeter would be showing a high charge rate. Original battery? If so I would start there.

The original battery went bad when the van was 3 years old (2017) This battery is almost 3 years old.....Its one of those large AGM type battery. Do they not last any longer than that?

No check engine light and this does not have a voltage gauge. Apparently does have a battery light. So no warning lights on.

Wanted to give an update on this. I called a local dealer and told him my story. He also thought that he would suspect a battery issue.
I called the local Napa where i bought the battery and they said "bring it back" But they also suggested doing a complete load test on the van as installed.
So I drove to town about 45 min away. At one point i could small burning again, but was fine at the store. Hooked up the machine and the battery tested out better than the advertised rating. The Alternator also tested out ok under load.
I picked up an alternator anyway and went back home.

I pulled that original alternator off and it was completely black and had soot coming out all the fins. Installed the new one and problem solved. Not sure what was wrong with it but it was overheating for sure.