Last week my idler pulley started making a squealing noise which obviously means its going bad, except the thing is I just had the water pump changed less than a month ago at a friend's shop. How much more life can I get out of it before it completely seizes?

 

If it is making noise, it could go at any time. I would get it taken care of ASAP.

 

+1
fix it before it goes and causes more damage.

 

your suppose to change all of those when you do a water pump or timing chain/belt