I haven't been on this site for about a year because nothing has been wrong with my i30. This weekend my wife whacked my front end and knocked it out of alighnment really bad. The only place I could go that was open was a Firestone tire shop. They did a good alighnment, no problem. They decided, without my consent, to tighten up my serpentine belt. Now it howls for about 30-45 seconds before it quiets down. I just installed it 2 weeks ago and was slowly adjusting it while the belt stretched out. It chirped for about 1-2 seconds at start up, which I was carefully adjusting out as time went by. After all, I don't want to ruin the bearing on my alternator or AC unit. Now this belt howl is driving me nuts! No matter how I adjust it, the belt still howls. I hate it when someone else works on my car. This is why I am a DIY'er. Now I will probably have to put a new belt on to get rid of the noise.

 

I understand how you feel about having your car messed with without your consent.

Im going to venture a guess about the noise.

I'd consider the serpenine belt tensioner bearing.

 

Thank you. The noise sounds like the belt. I just packed grease in the tensioner bearings.