Squealing sound only begins 30-60 seconds after start up (does not stop)

I hit a deer a few months ago and have been working on repairing the damage when at some point I noticed a squealing sound that only begins a short time after the engine starts and does not stop until the engine stops.

The sound gets a little bit louder if I am travelling faster, but isn't directly correlated with acceleration. I think it is coming from the passenger side of the engine bay, but it is hard to tell and I do not own a vehicle stethoscope.

I only noticed the sound after I had disconnected the ac condenser not realizing it is also the tranny cooler and was leaking transmission fluid, long story short I got the tranny fixed and it is still making the sound.
I will post a recording of the sound but until then, it sounds like grasshoppers chirping in the trees with rhymical louder and quieter moments. I was thinking maybe a belt somewhere has gone bad but the rhythmical pattern only repeats every two-ish seconds and all the belts I know of move a lot faster than that

Any ideas or tips to narrow the search for a solution would be appreciated

 

First, Welcome from LA (Lower Alabama)!

Based on what you shared, I would suspect one of the tensioner pulleys being knocked slightly out of alignment with the deer collision. Others may have different ideas.

 

Welcome from OKC! You could start with removing the belt to narrow it down. Then try to turn the tensioner pulley by hand and if that's okay proceed to the other components. You can spray a little lubricant in each rotating assembly one at a time until you notice a difference too. A wooden broom handle can be used as a stethoscope of sorts as well. Good luck!

 

thank you both for the suggestions, they will be very helpful. I am an amateur mechanic and was at a loss as to where to look first!

 

I used a long and slim cedar stick I had around my shop as a stethoscope and found that the tensioner pulley was definitely making the squealing, so I went ahead and replaced it as well as the micro-V belt and the idler pulley, after a few months and two road trips the sound is gone! thanks a million for the suggestions guys, I really appreciate it. I hope ya'll have a good day and help many others solve their problems. also hopefully someone with the same issue sees this thread and is able to solve their own problem