01 SC2 ABS light and squealing sound?!

[ltags]

This car is killing me. I've had numerous problems with it, and this is a fresh one that I don't really know what it could be and don't want to spend a lot of money figuring out how to fix it. While driving around 40mph, the ABS light came on and was accompanied by a strange almost grinding sound like i was dragging something on the road. There was nothing dragging and it stopped after a minute or two, and it started making a bad squealing noise like when a belt is bad. It eventually stopped, but now it just does it for about 5 minutes after I turn the car on, and when I first accelerate or brake. I have a full amount of brake fluid. Any ideas on what it is? Can't really afford to bring it to a shop to have it assessed, but if I can fix it on my own, and it's an easy fix, I'd really prefer that. To my understanding there are a lot of belts under the hood so trying to find the right one, if that's even it at all, would be helpful.

[fdryer]

One way to associate the ABS light and squealing would be a worn out serpentine belt and/or belt tensioner. There's only one belt the engine uses to drive the power steering pump, a/c compressor, water pump, and alternator - the serp belt. Its on the passenger side of the engine. If you can deflect the belt by simply using your fingers to press on it, the belt tensioner most likely lost its ability to maintain tension on the belt drive system. The belt should be taut otherwise squealing can occur during morning starts (or other times) as moisture allows a loose belt to be held by all the belt driven accessories while the crankshaft pulley is trying to pull the belt. Happens often to worn out tensioners. If the tensioner is worn out, replace it along with a new belt. The ABS indicator is one of those secondary indicators that relies on regulated battery voltage and is critical of the first voltage drop; a loose belt that won't allow the alternator to spin up to operating rpm and fails to maintain electrical output as a consequence.