when car is cold there is a noise when steering...its a eeerrr eeerrrr noise. really loud when the car is cold but if I let it warm up before driving the noise isnt there. the noise is especially loud when i am letting the car warm up and turn the steering wheel when i am sitting in place. it only occurs while turning. any ideas....I listened to where it was coming from under the hood and it is in the passenger side toward the rear of the car.

your power steering fluid is empty. refill it, and the sound should be gone... if it goes away, then comes back, then you have a leak in your power steering lines.

Your belts may be worn or your idler pulley may be bad.

I recently (about two months ago) had the serpentine and AC belts replaced on my '97 Altima. A similar problem began for my within a week of getting the belts replaced. I thought at first perhaps it was just because the belt was new, but alas, the noise still exists. Any link?