Same thing was happeining on my Sunfire(yeah yeah, it's just my winter car) and it turned out to be the serpentine belt. Also started to hear a loud screaching on the civic, coming from the passenger side. Turned out to be a nearly busted tie rod. h:

 

Definately a accy. drive belt. If the V part of the belt is shiny (glazed over) or is torn and exposing the cords, replace. If it looks good, just re-tension.

 

It's either that or your transmission. I told my next door neighbor to get theirs checked and waited too long and the whole tranny went out on their car.

 

i thought more about this today on my way to work.... (in my case i KNOW its the belts, but anyway.. i wouldn't "retention the belts" as long as it goes away once the car is at normal operating temp.. i mean why would you make ANY tuning changes in SUCH extreme temps, isn't it better to make adjustments on a NORMAL day.. couldn't they end up being TOO tight... i would not **** with it

 

Not really. If they are loose on a cold day, they are shrunk as far as they will go and when they warm up, they will only expand more. It's all a matter of oppinion in my mind. If they annoy you, get them fixed, if they don't, let them go until it warms up again.

 

i dont think the screech because they are too loose i THINK they screech for the same reason a powerfull car loses more traction in the extreme cold..he already stated that under NORMAL operating temp they work fine.

 

h: Good catch, I missed that. Sorry bout that.