OK, so on my '97 I have had this metallic squeak since mid January. It comes and goes and only at idle, if I increase the RPM by even 50 RPM it will go away and return as soon as the RPM's return to normal.
I thought that it was the idler pully so I replaced that, still squeaked, replaced the belt, still squeaks.
I'm not going to throw anymore parts at it, I replaced the two most common causes of squeaks. I am going to flush the power steering on Sat to remove the stop leak and see if that helps.
Any other ideas?

 

Do you have one or two idlers, how about the belt tensioner?

 

Water pump or alt.. Take your belt off and spin everything one at a time.

 

Just one idler, it is the one on the tensioner and that is the one that I replaced.
It is very puzzling to me.

 

OK, I will check that out this weekend, I was thinking maybe power steering pump, I hope not.

 

I had a similar noise and it turned out to be my water pump bearings going out. Keep an eye on your temp.

 

OK, removed the belt and spun the water pump and guess what!! Squeak, squeak, quite, quite, squeak.
So I need a new water pump, I have heard that the Proline pumps are junk, what do you guys recommend?
AutoZone has one for $250 with a lifetime warrenty but I really cannot afford to spend that much. Does anyone know how much installation might be? I really dont want to tackle this myself, I have done water pumps before but those were on late '70's GM V8's with 3 feet between the radiator and the engine.
Just a reminder, it's a '97.

 

If you've tackled a GM V8 water pump, you can do this one too. This is an engine developed by buick in the early 60's. Take off your fan shroud and your viscous fan to give you more room and put a large piece of cardbord in front of your radiator. Be patient with bleeding the air from the system when your refill it, it can take a while.

 

I'm to short, I cant change it because I cant reach it. And it is cold out.

 

Sorry It took so long to respond. Ive been out of town. If you havn't bought a water pump I got mine at Napa Auto parts for 165.00. It has a 2 year warranty. You can do It yourself. Its very easy.