Bought car in February. 1990 TT 120k miles. Well kept. Always running strong. No issues besides having to replace rotors when I got her.

Lately, on a cold start, there's a squealing noise that last a few seconds and goes away. Only happens on a cold start. Sounds like something clicks on and the squealing stops?

Video of sound

Here's what's going down
- Starts to heat up on spirited driving
- Cools down when idling + heater on
- Can cruise at low rpms with heater on
- Able to hold fan from spinning with my finger when the car is turned on (read this as a diagnostic test somewhere to check for slippage)
- When trying the 'hold fan with finger' test, the noise remained the same on a cold start
- I'll probably get an ear full from the hold fan test mentioned above, the post was from 1999!
- Fan is tight and doesn't spin much when pushed by hand with engine off
- Tried tightening belts down, no change in noise
- No coolant being leaked out
- No power loss/stumbling/car shutting off/smoke
- (edit) Coolant looks clean and isn't low.

When searching, my symptoms hit the mark on some things but not completely.

I'd like to see if anyone has experienced anything similar before I spend money on a new clutch fan/belts and start replacing things. For the most part, the parts look new and well maintained.

I went on a hunt for a brake squeal issue that turned out to be BENT rotors (not warped/glazed, BENT). On the flip side, I have new brake pads, shims, slide pins etc and the spare set that I replaced lol. So I'm here asking for some opinions to better narrow down my search for the issue.

Thanks in advance!

 

Replying to my own thread for some closure. The squeal and overheating issue are two different things. I simply thought they were related as they started happening at the same time.

I had a small coolant leak at the rear of the engine. I never noticed because it would land on top of the transmission case and evaporate eventually. Fixed the leak, topped up the coolant, burped the system and she doesn't overheat anymore.

Got all new belts to install this week and hopefully that takes care of the squeal.

Thanks!