when the weather is cold, the sound is a little less noticable and then goes away after warm-up. but this morning, i started the car and the engine made a high pitched whining sound and it stayed with me during my 15 min drive. the car drives normal, and nothing feels different, it just makes the irritating sound. what could this be? i just made 50k miles a week ago btw.

 

There are alot of engine sounds, you may want to specify where the whining (screeching?) noise is coming from. If it is coming from the front passenger side of the car(it probably is) it is one of your drive belts. Get them checked to see if they are in spec.

 

whining could be the alternator, theres also a problem that the 95-96's have where it makes the tapping noise when warming up, something with the timing i think i forgot

 

A defective alternator will make a high pitched whining sound that increases in pitch as you rev the engine, much like a supercharger. If you are talking about a very very slight whine, it's just gear noise and perfectly normal.

 

its coming from the frnt passenger side and sounds like its coming fromt the pulley area. it seems that the most visible pulley is kinda wobbly. i doubt that its the alternator because the whining noise stays at the same volume during acceleration.