Heres the deal, I’m driving a 98 Chevy 3500. It starts fine, drives fine and after about 20 minutes the engine starts to squeal and oil pressure drops down to about 20. The squeal starts off intermitent and steadily gets worse. Its a standard transmission and at first the squeal will change pitch and sometimes stop for a bit when shifting gears but the longer its driven the squeal returns and gets steadily worse. Its not a belt or a pulley, its coming from somewhere in the engine itself. I’m going to school out of state and have no tools here. I’m looking to find out what it is so I can take it to a mechanic and not get hosed by him, I’ve already witnessed whats happened to a few students being out of state and having some problems and don’t have the time or money to be taken advantage of. Any help would be much appreciated!
Regardless of what advice may be forthcoming, suggest you look at Mechanics files on the Car Talk home page and see what recommendations you can find there, for your town. Also find out if friends have had good success with a reputable mechanic in town and consider using him.