Ok, so I'm back from sea! And I finally took her in to the dealership to have the squeal investigated. The squeal started off just at startup, after about 2 months developed into a horrible squeal @ idle. I originally thought the noise was coming from the belt or perhaps a bearing in there somewhere. Turned out it was the water pump which I had replaced. The part cost $480 @ the dealership and labor was about $350.
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Never use a big word where a dimunitive one will suffice.
97 Guards Red
82k miles
Wow... replaced one on a Toyota Corollla for about $120... got one for a Ford Tempo for *** $25 ***. Probably a "Ford part number 12345, fits: 01-03 Taurus, 99-03 Sable, etc." but still!
Well, I just started to hear a squeal at startup also. Sounds like a bad raygun sound effect from a cheap sci-fi movie. It has only happened twice so far and both times in the morning when the temp was below 60. Funny thing is it started happening 2 days after I took the car into the local dealership for its annual maintenance. Coincidence? Gonna give them a call today and see what they have to say.