Yeah, you should have just driven to failure. Some owners, do just that. It's best "they" do not come here and :cry: about concerns. As most here in mud, give advise that increase reliability and reduce long term maintenance cost.
If it was mine, I'd been happy I did the service. I'd also have...
Sounds while cold are early warnings, which your smart to be looking into.
A local I had just warned his fan bracket (FB) was bad, and fan clutch weak. Took upon himself to replace fan clutch only. Doing so, without removing belt. We do n'ot if there was an install error. But fan bracket shaft...
Good looking 98!
With belt off not only check the idler & tensioner bearing. But give the fan a spin, which will spin the fan bracket. Also grab fan bracket pulley and check for any up down play.