HELP! When it's rainy, damp/wet, or super cold, my car squeals like someone is torchering a small animal under the hood when I start it up. Usually persists until the car has warmed up. Why is this happening? I read the thread on the PS hose recall & have already taken my car in for the replacement. Also, I listened to some of the vids you guys posted and the noise is not the same. Again, the noise sounds more like someone is slowly killing a small animal under the hood. I think it might be a belt...but 82K seems low to need a belt replacement. Thoughts?

 

I've never tortured or killed an animal so I'm not sure what that sounds like :/

not really interested in trying just to hear how your car sounds either

can you get a vid of it up? does it seem to be coming from a certain location?

 

It's probably a belt or tensioner. Both are not difficult or expensive to replace.

Does it change when you turn the A/C on or off?

 

My car does the same after it has rained. Never really cared.

 

It certainly sounds like a belt to me. Pop the hood and inspect your belts and the tension on them. 82,000 miles could certainly be contributing to the problem. Normally a belt should be good up until then, but every single car on the road wears parts down differently, so maybe one of your belts got a nick in it that over time has gotten worse, or a tensioner has started to fail making the belt slack.

 

Why do people never consider time, and only just miles? as an extreme example, if you drive the car only in city, at an average speed of 25mph, then the time that the belt runs will be twice as long as if you drive the car mostly highway, at an average speed of 50mph. But you expect the belt to last just as long (miles) whether it runs for 3280 hours vs. 1640 hours? Yes the vehicle speed makes some difference, but its hours (and weather) that makes the most difference.

If you want to diagnose (sp) the belt drive system, try this link. Some info is specific to an RDX, but most info is general for any vehicle:
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14629541#post14629541