hello, i own a 2001 buick regal ls, with a 3.8 engine non-superchagred. I have got a squeal in the front end of my vehicle. I beleive it is coming from one of my pullys but it may not be. i have replaced with new parts, water pump, tensioner pully, ac compressor, and belt. i have replaced with a junkyard part my power steering pump. i have been told that water pump was going bad (little whole on it was beginning to get covered), tensioner pully was not spinning good(i stuck it on my finger and spung it and you can feel it catching), my car had no air conditioning, refilled it with freon, had ac, replaced ac pump becuase told it had a leak and was the thing squealing (this was my first replacement), peopole who replaced ac said belt was bad and replaced my belt, and my power steering pump i was told was making a sloushing (excuse my spelling)noise or something like it on the inside which is how you tell its going bad. in order of replacement, ac compressor, belt, tensenor pully,water pump, andpower steering pump. and this is where i am currently at. it has been squealing since before october, and i drove it atleast a 1000 miles on it in one trip to alabama, then i have been driving it nearly every day atleast 60 miles a day since then. i was looking at my alternator last night and saw a small arc (electrical current, again if this is incorrect spelling forgive me) coming from alternator going to my belt. the arc was located about midway down the pully on the altenator then straight towards the front of the vehicle. when you rev up the engine the arc gets brighter and there is another arc located close to my heater hose coming from my belt and i was unable to really tell where the other side of the arc ended. tommorrow, i am going to get belt rereplaced because the main mechanic at the place i got it changed asked if i had replaced the belt becuase itlooked weathered,and i said his shop did. so im going to replace it with a gm dealership belt. i have had my normal mechanic who does all my work for me do everythign else but the ac pump and the belt. my squeal has progressively gotten more common and louder at times. used to you could not hear it over the radio and now you can when its at its loudest point easily over the radio. it also only seems to do it when it is hot, temp gauge reading between half and the mark before half (this is where it normally stays). car has 130000 plus miles on it. it usually takes about 20-30 minutes for it to start then it seems the longer it runs the more often it will do it. i had it running for over an hour almost contantly with only a short pause (about 5 min.) and it was doing it near constantlyfor the last 10-15 minutes. the car can be sitting still or moving when it does it, it makes no difference. when it is sitting still and its not doing it and it has previously been doing it, you can usually push the accelerator a little and it will start making the soundif given enough time (usually less than a minute). my normal mechanic and the one who replaced my ac pump both have no idea what it is. they both also say that the arc from the alternator is a normal thing if you look at it at night. this is where im at, any help you can give would be greatly appreciated, i can buy a remanufactered alternator with a lifetime warrantyat advance for$90.this may very well be my next option ifthe belt does notfix it.i know this is long and complicated and if i can help any further please just let me know. thank you very much sjonesy2.

most squeals are belts, one thing you might do is to stand over the front of the motor and look to make sure all your belts are tight, and that the pulleys are lined up.I''d start there.