My car, uh, squeals?

My car, uh, squeals?

Two months ago I got into an accident on my 03 rolla s which made a huge dent in my front bumper, bent the chassis, supposedly broken some pipes too. Nothing exceptionally serious because I was still able to drive it off. I sent it into the shop the next day.

Ever since that morning, I noticed my car would squeal right after a start (and I mean it squeals for quite some time). I thought, "it's probably something broken, the auto shop would probably fix it for me".

Two months later, I found out it still squeals.

How'd it take me that long to find out? Well, after it came out of the shop, I really didn't notice anything. What happens now is whenever my car starts up from a COLD engine, it would squeal (and during those times I usually run into the living room and finish my breakfast). When I hear the squeal, it's almost like metal grinding against metal really fast, like a whistle that goes off continuously. When I try troubleshooting it, I found out the squeals get even faster if I rev the engine up (this is done when the engine is still cold). When my engine gets warm enough though, the squealing goes away, and I can't get the squealing to come back.

Until the engine gets cold, and then it squeals again.

Before the accident, I don't recall hearing this, nor do I think it's actually normal for a car to squeal. But it's strange how it only happens when the engine is cold. Does anyone have an idea?

But what would explain the squealing dying down after the engine is done warming up?

yeo what he said. but it has to do something with the heat expanding the bearings/seals or something or if the belts too tight it will squel until its warm.

if its just the belts/pulleys making the squeaking noise.. just spray some silicone on it... usually gets rid of it

Clean your pulleys, check your belts for slack, wear, etc.... 95% of the time, that kind of squealing is caused by those 2 things...

I would advise a little caution on what you spray on there...I've heard bad stories about belt dressings causing build up and eventually pushing the belt off the pulley.

If anything, I'd recommend WD-40. I recommend it only as a tool to find out if you have a belt or pulley problem. Once you've isolated it then you can go ahead and change the part...sprays and dressings are only a temporary fix.

Maybe I should follow SkyAce's suggestions and look for worn-out hampsters to replace.

Anyone know a Petsmart nearby?

theres one near me...maybe you should upgrade them to guinea pigs??

Ooo, maybe I can mod the engine bay and put a dog in there to give me 30+ horses!

EDIT : DOGPOWER