I get a little squeel when I start up the car for the 1st time in the day.. It's not Super loud but embarassing... It seems to go away after a few miles..

I have the Exact same squeel on my 2001 Tahoe.. and it's the upper serpentine belt tensioner pulley..

Does it sound like it's the same thing here? I tried shooting a little WD40 into the back of the pulley bearing while it was running but it did nothing.. However on my Tahoe it quieted down right away! So I am thinking the squeel is somewhere else on the vette...

 

Just Had Mine In The Shop Yesterday For The Same Thing. Squeeled For About 5 Miles Every Morning. It Was The Belt Itself, I Thought It Was The Tension Pulley. Apparently The Belt Picks Up Dirt/sand And It Heats Up Against The Metal Pulleys And The Squeel Or Chirp Sound It The Metal Against The Sand That Has Become Stuck In Your Belt(s)...
I Put Goodyear Gatorbacks On, It Is All Better Now!!!

 

so the noise must be coming from the inside (ribbed) of the belt, not the flat outside.. Cause I put some alcohol on a rag and pressed it up against the flat side of the belt while it was running to clean it.. It made not difference in the noise.. I guess after 5 years I may as well replace the belt..

 

In my case it was the harmonic balancer. Turn on the engine, look at the balancer, and if it wobbles, time to replace it. Mine at 60k.

 

When you first start it up, listen for a difference with the AC on and then off. That will give some indication of which belt it is (most likely the AC belt). When changing that belt, spin the tensioner and idler rollers to see if they spin smooth. If over 50K miles, you might want to put new pulleys (bearings) in at that time. GM sells the idler pulley for around $22 (Fred Beans) and the tensioner with pulley as a set only. On my car I purchased two idler pulleys and installed one as an idler and the other on the tensioner assembly (easily removed with one bolt) and saved some money. Both Idler and tensioner pulleys are the same. Good luck.

 

Did you check the tensioner under the car for the a/c belt?

 

I made this tech tip up several years ago and have posted it here many times.

You have two belt systems on your car. One is the drive belt system, the other is the air conditioner belt system.
The drive belt system consists of the serpentine belt,the power steering pump, alternator/gen, water pump, harmonic balancer, idler pulley,belt auto tensioner pulley.
The AC belt system consists of the compressor, harmonic balancer,idler pulley, belt auto tensioner pulley.
First thing you need to do is isolate which system is squeaking. this can be done by releasing tension on the drive belt tensioner and removing the serp belt. This is the outboard belt of the two belt systems..if the squeak goes away, then it is the belt or a component of the drive system.
If the squeak is still there, then it is a component of the ac belt system.
to verify this release the belt tension from the tensioner and remove the belt. if the squeak goes away, then it is a component of the ac belt system..
A common problem is the belt tensioner on either system.. but verifying which system is at fault is the proper procedure.
You could replace both belts, but you may still have the squeak. So if you want to find the culprit, isolate the system, then spray the belt of the offending system and see if the squeak goes away. Try to stay away from the idler and tensioner while spaying..
I find that belt dressing may be good to identify a belt problem, but it is a temporary fix at best..
The real problem has been the tensioner and the idler.. both of these components have a sealed bearing which has been know to dry up or redirect the grease away from the bearing, thus causing the squeak.
If you find that a belt change does not correct the problem, then a change of both the idler and tensioner pulley is in order. If you just change the idler or the tensioner alone, it will cause the other component to go bad in a month or so. This has been the case with many members..There was a change made to the dusts seals to help correct this problem in newer C5's.
Lots of tensioner and idler pulleys have been identified as a problem.. and it can effect either system. One is not more prevalent than the other. So find out which system is squeaking first, in the drive belt system, it could also be the bearing of the alternator, power steering pump, or water pump too, but these are less probable.
I hope this makes things alittle clearer

ET

 

Good info as usual.
One other tip I would add is to be sure your pulleys are clean. Since you will probably have them off anyway, go ahead and wire brush the grooves all the way around. Like ET said, sometimes it may be a combination of things causing a particular squeal problem and dirt/sand particles in the pulley grooves can aggravate things. Depending on the particle size, those little boogers can get wedged down at the bottom of the grooves and can cause the belt to ride at varying depths in the grooves if there's enough of them in there. Also, I would strongly recommend the Goodyear Gatorback belts as replacements should you need them. HTH
Robert