I went and got oil changed to today and i asked the guy to give the belts an inspection. They have been making noise lately on startup, but its also been getting colder. He said the belts looked fine and had no signs of cracks. Later i drove home, its 10pm and its decently chilly and it was very bad. lots of noise on startup and engine warming. driving home it was consistantly making noise in 2nd gear. when i shifted to 3rd it was fine but downshifting to slow down it was make the belt noise again the whole way to complete stop. then would be there in 2nrd again. should i get a 2nd opinion or just go and have them replaced. anyone with similar problems/experience? advice?

edit: i have a 2k 5spd with 135k miles. the distance from work is aprox 1 mile.

 

it is a DIY job.... will take you 35 minutes tops..... or you an add some belt lubricant... like wd40... but the noise will come back... so take the first one and get rid of the noise for good

 

I have a 2000, 5 spd. My belts started doing the same thing you described at around 90k miles. At ~95k miles, the noise started getting much worse and would do it if I had A/C on sometimes even during the warm months. I finally replaced them and the noise went away. I had a mechanic changed them, tho. Cost like $120 in labor. Should have done them myself.