I've had a "squeal" develop ever since taking my 2002 Civic Si on a 500 mile road trip. It has 145,000 on it. It's definitely a belt or pulley but doesn't sound like a typical belt squeal. When the engine is cold it's worse but I think part of that is the RPM it runs at helps the sound resonate. Once driven for 2-5 minutes I can hear a noise (barely audible) that sounds like a faint, faint, squeal and I'm thinking bearing in a pulley. If I pop the hood and listen I don't hear all that much (once it's warmed up). I've had someone hold the engine at various RPMs that seem to be the worst when the engine is cold. Starting after work, when it's 80 degrees out, I sometimes don't get the squeal. But every morning when it's been below 40 lately I've had it for sure. I know it's difficult without hearing it, but dread taking it to a shop to have them replace the belt (see if that helps), then this pulley, then an alternator, then that pulley, etc. Do they have a way to actually diagnose which pulley it's coming from? Or will they just replace piece by piece until they find which one makes it disappear? I should add, I popped the belt off and spun the pulleys and didn't find any play or grinding feelings.
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