i bought a 2002 3.0 V6 Mazda Tribute. All was fine until I went on a 600km two day road trip on a highway and definitely up and down some mountains. Nothing crazy at all. At first, I heard like... air escaping... okay cool, the noise went away. Then a week later, I get a squealing noise when I start to accelerate at stop lights. It all went downhill from there. It was struggling to make it up the smallest of hills going 30 under the speed limit.

Then... just as I pulled off the highway 2 weeks after the problem started (the first weekend was Thanksgiving, so sadly no mechanics open), the car dies. I lose steering and the oil, and the engine and battery lights come on.

Problem 1: The air vacuum hose needed to be fixed. Cool, got that done... Problem 2: The incessant loud embarrassing squealing noise like a banshee on a rampage… no mechanic knows where its coming from. I can't understand it.

I got the serpentine belt changed… that’s not it. I got a new belt tensioner… also not it.

Apparently the noise moves around from one side of the engine to the other. I'm tired of wasting money on parts that don't need to actually be fixed. Can anyone help?