OK. I'm a total car newb, but this problem is really bugging me and I'm kind of afraid of getting a fix-it ticket from the police. V_V;

My car is a 2001 mazda protege and me and my parents put a lot of miles onto it. The problem is that for the past two months or so that I've been hearing like ... a hamster wheel sound when it hasn't been oiled. Sometimes, when I start the car up and put it into drive, it makes a REAAALLY loud squealing sound and that's what I'm afraid about.

We tried bringing it to a Pep Boys but the problem still isn't fixed. We can't tell what the problem is and we even got the serpentine belt replaced.

Does anyone have any kind of idea what it could be?

You're not going to get a fix-it ticket for noisy pulleys.

Have someone who is certified to check your belts, tensioners, and pulleys. Not Pep Boys.

Thanks for the advice.

I'm taking a look right now for mechanics. I know this is a shot in the dark, but do you (or anyone else?) know how much this might come out to?

As for the hamster wheel like noise:

Is the noise like a tick tick tick tick tick tick tick (very fast)?

This can be what we call valve lifter noise. Now this isn't a major problem per se, but for now just drive the car gently until it warms up. First try a basic oil change to get some fresh oil in there then we can try other methods to cure that noise.

As for the possible belt issue, some cars have more than one accessory (serpentine) belt, I don't know off the top of my head if your Mazda has one or two or even three... again as mentioned above its wise to replace all belts and the tensionersif they present any problems.

If there is one thing I remember, its probably not the timing belt. Even if the timing belt snaps, I'm pretty sure the Mazda engine thats in your car is a non-interference type, meaning there won't be catastrophic engine damage if the belt were to snap.

More information on the car would be helpful.

Yea, that's almost the exact sound it makes. Usually it makes the loudest squeals in the morning.

We got the oil changed, oil filter, that kind of thing. I see on our receipt that we changed two different belts for the alternator and the power steering, but I think that's just the serpentine? We also got the struts replaced if that's any help.

I actually don't have much information on the car itself besides what I can find on the internet since I haven't gotten around to finding a car manual... maybe I should really go do that.

I installed a Vortech when you weren't watching. Enjoy!

Well I can now ask, how many miles are on the vehicle (just roughly like 150K or something like that)?

Is the car driven primarily on the streets or on the freeway? Do lots of short trips (5 miles or less?)?

Car driven on a daily basis? Driven once a week?

I will also assume that the car had regular oil during the oil changes and not synthetic. I'm am trying to narrow the tick tick tick noises down to oil related issues, which i suspect.

What you can do about the loud squealing noise right now is when you before you drive the car, open the hood and listen near the belts (they should be visible) and have someone start the car. If the sound comes from there, we at least know where to look. It could even be the starter for all I know, but its best to find out where the sound is coming from first.

superchargers having a whine noise to it.

have you ever heard a vortech v1 t-trim before? that thing squeels/squeeks more than a whining sound

Enough miles are on it... lol ... I don't remember. I drive my car almost every day though, most of the days on streets for short trips with two hours every week on the free-way.
Yes, it had an oil change and the oil filter was replaced too.

Haha, I'm kind of afraid to be near my car when it starts at times. When it makes the loud noise it's nearly deafening. I'll try to take a look at it tomorrow though.