rattling coming fom under the hood

[max5]

I have a 2000 firebird with 33,000 miles on it, and abut half te time when I fire it up i begin to hear a loud hi-pitched rattle coming from under the hood, it isn't a whine, more like a tinny rattle. I had the sepentine belt replaced about 8 weeks ago. The car will do it at idle and while I am driving, but seems to happen more when I am idling. help me out guys

[max5]

i just took it to a local shop and all they could find were some filings on the A/C compressor clutch. He thinks the compressor is about to go bad. will it hurt the performance of my car if i don't put a new one in until next summer?