It seems that in the colder weather, (up to the 20's) if i start the truck, leave it run for at least 30 seconds and go my tranny seems to have a whine to it about half a second after i put it in gear that lasts sometimes up to 2-3 seconds and the whine sounds like a power steering whine when you have it cranked all the way in either direction but is much lowder, Should i be worried, i dont want to find out down the road i destroid my tranny because i had to get in and go, if anyone knows whats going on and if its harmfull or not please post up, if some of you dont remember or are new here i have an 87 Dakota with the 3.9 and 3 Speed Auto tranny

 

As long as the fluid is toped off and is good and not burnt or watery, and your not experiencing slipping issues or bad shifts you should be okay. Most likely it is something else though. Just check out everything you can.

 

If, after checking everything Crazy mentioned, you still have the whine, start the truck, put the shifter in Neutral for about a minute, then put in drive.
If noise minimizes or goes away, you're hearing the trans priming the converter due to "converter drainback".
Not a big deal, just put the shifter in Neutral for a bit before you take off on a cold morning.....

 

in colder weather i found synthetic fluids takes care of all problems. thats all they use up north in canada where the temp can drop to -40 or lower. had a 5 speed in my Comanche and one night after work in the winter i could not shift for 20 minuits. put syn fluid in and i was the first out of the lot. also changed my power steering fluid over to syn and that took care of the squeal in cold weather. works the same for auto trannys in the cold.

your getting advice from 2 guys that are probably going to have a beer tomorrow under a palm tree. oh sorry crazy you had to spend a couple of nights below 32.

 

No palm trees. But it was around 52 deg. today. I love it!

 

looking out the window at all the snow and ice. going to be early may before i can get back to the woods. having a 2x4 sucks on so many levels!