What's that noise?
 

As the weather has gotten cold, my 87 Carrera has started making an unusual noise on startup.

When the engine fires up, I hear a high-pitched squeal that lasts for about one-half second. It is not terribly loud, and it does not recur when the engine is warm. On this forum, I have read that tensioners going bad gives a rattling sound, but this sounds like a quiet version of a slipping power steering belt on a old Chevy. I have checked the fan belt and the tension is OK.

Any other ideas?

Thanks.

Still could be the belt. If it's old, the inside of the belt(grip side) gets hard and will slip making a squealing sound, even if the tension is ok.

Start the car with the belt off tomorrow when it's cold and see if it still does it. If it does, then worry.

Yep, I'd bet on the fan belt...I had my outer pulley half replated a while back, and I'm still getting a similar noise 3K miles later...mostly when cold, and both upon startup and shut down. What Pat said....

A way to do a quick check to see if it is the belt is to give it a shot of WD-40. If it doesn't squeal, then you know the old belt is dry and needs to be replaced. Our host sells belts. If you're buying belts, buy two -- one for installation on the car now, and the other to carry in your tool kit.

I'll replace the belt this weekend as I have a good one in the toolkit. We'll see what happens then