Astral

My sister's new 1998 Audi 80 Quattro. 227K on the clock, one owner! (service history details, as I have them). Got some pictures of the car, including a quick attempt to polish the hood (half/half hood, [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/uksi/5031434735/in/set-72157625049668832/]full hood]), but it really needs a week of polishing to look new again.

But it makes a funny noise... I'm an Audi newbie, so please bear with me! I have two videos:

Cold idle, a few minutes in
Warm idle, pronounced squeal

You can hear the squeak/squeal start going in the first vid. In the 2nd vid, it's a lot more pronounced.

When the engine is revved to 1500 RPM or so, the squeal/squeak goes away. It comes back when the RPMs return to idle.

Is this a pulley on an accessory belt of some kind? Or is this a major engine issue?

Also, what's that clicking noise (easily heard in the "cold idle" video)

Astral

oops, that'd be an '88 80Q.

red90q

could try spraying each belt with some 'belt dressing'. See if it goes away. That way you could narrow down the field a bit.

Loudgoldwing

I would REALLY recommend you take that car to your local Car-X or Midas. Sounds to me like you have a dry bearing issue with either an Idler Pulley or the Water Pump.

Not something to mess with. When a car makes a metal-on-metal squeal like that, it means something is rubbing hard and likely generating a LOT of heat.

Imminent failure of a vital system looms near, young apprentice. Swallow your pride, take it in, and litsen hard to what the guy has to say, so you can in turn teach somebody long down the road.

Or, if you have mechanical skills, grab a can of white lithium, fabricate a LONG directional with two ends of red straw, some thin vacuum line, and some silicone stretch-n-seal, and show each of your pulley wheels some love until you squelch the squeal.

Once you figure out which "turney bit" was hollering in pain, replace it. You're only using the grease to play detective. It's not a repair in and of itself.

Astral

Turns out it's not the idler pulley or water pump, it's the power steering pump. Diagnosed using a stethoscope and confirmed by an Audi mechanic. The mechanic pulled back the timing belt cover and inspected/listened there.

Just going to leave it as is until the power steering pump goes. The mechanic says that it can make that sound for a while before it goes.

And thanks everyone for your input, I really appreciate it!