might not be the water pump...might be the power steering idler bearing (as someone mentioned above)...mine went bad and made a horrible screeching noise.

it could also just be the belts themselves chirpin' because of being so cold.

take off the power steering belt and run the engine...see if the noise is still there...if not, there is a good chance it is the idler bearing (or just the ps belt).

the bad news is that you can't repack that bearing with grease as it is sealed...the good news is that a new bearing is less than $10 (US).

i think the OEM bearing is an NSK bearing with part number 6204V. i got the SKF equivalent at a place called "applied technologies". (any place that sells bearings should be able to cross reference for the part number.)

to get at the bearing, you have to take the idler pulley off...which is easy...there is a bolt through the middle of the pulley...you just take that out and there is a little cover that pops off to expose the bearing. (you need to loose the adjuster first...it's pretty obvious upon looking at the thing.)

use a flathead screw driver to pry it out...carefully tap the new one in with a rubber mallot or something.

changing that bearing takes all of 20 minutes max...very easy to do.

good luck...what a great trip you are on...enjoy it and keep posting so the rest of us can live vicariously through you <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />