so when the engine is cold, when I push the gas pedal, in the lower 1/4 of the RPMs there is a grinding noise (not an ordinary grinding noise, and it isn't very loud). It is not coming from the transmission, because when I rev the engine in neutral with the engine cold, it does the same thing.

 

fluid completely topped off in trans?

 

Yea, brand new fluid, filled to the top.
I'm pretty sure it's not the transmission doing it, as it does it in neutral too.

 

it's like a really light grinding noise. that's the best i can describe it. it's not consistent though in time intervals between "grinds"

 

Open your hood when the engine is cold and start the engine. While pushing on the throttle cable under the hood, try to localize the sound. My guess is that the grinding is coming from around the drive belts -- PS pump, A/C compressor, alternator, idler pulley.

 

seems to be coming from the rear drivers side of the engine bay, possibly the alternator

 

People mention precisely localizing engine sounds using a several foot-long length of hose, where one end is placed by your ear and the other by the component that you think the sound is coming from.

 

i'll check it out tomorrow again, this time with a length of hose/tubing
i'm pretty sure it's coming from the alternator though, I went outside just with my plain ear up to the area and it got louder around the alternator

also, another correction to my initial post, it does it at idle too, and not only when the engine is cold. however, in higher RPMs the noise seems to go away

a website i looked at said if it's the alternator it is a bearing inside of it. if i take it to the auto parts store to get it tested for free will they tell me if the bearing is bad?

 

If the alternator is in fact making noise, just replace it. When you pull the alternator out and spin the pulley, it will likely spin roughly and make noise, verifying immediately that it is bad.

 

i found a video and it sounds pretty much just like this just less severe than the one in the video
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GVwtd9RA4lU