99 Continental trani noise when cold starting

[gtm]

I own a 99 Continental with about 58,000 miles, serviced by the dealer, and the transmission was last serviced at about 42,000 miles. Just recently, only upon starting cold in the morning, there is a winding sound as the car shifts from first to second gear. After about 5 minutes of driving/shifting, the sound goes away.
Brought the car to the local dealer in Roseville at the night dropoff, and the mechanic cold started and diagnosed the problem as the starter and related parts and replaced them. The next day, the winding noise was still there. I called and was told there is suddenly are 4-5 '99 and newer front wheel drive Contis in for the same mysterious noise and repair. Today, the service manager called to tell me he was in a "hard spot", had replaced a pump in the transmission of another car, but the winding noise was still present too. He told me that Ford Motors will not send a technical representative and want him to "tape record the noise" and send to Detroit, but that he and his mechanics are "on their own clock". I have an extended warranty from Heritage, but they won't authorize the dealership a cent to diagnose the problem on my car unless he can specify a repair (hmm, what kind of warranty is that??). So, they will "tear down" the other Conti under the extended Ford warranty and hopefully find the whining source. Has anyone out there had this experience? I heard the SHO transmission in these cars is only rated for 275 hp but the newer Contis produce up to 300 hp. Please help as the Heritage warranty is voidable if I drive the car in need of this strange repair.

 

[sleeper]

Well, that's a new one. How loud is this whining noise?

If the car was not under warranty, i'd say forget about it until something breaks. But you obviously want it fixed since you don't have to pay. It's probably something in the transmission.

Tell the tech to tell your warranty company that it's a transmission problem and he can either diagnose the problem, or he can replace the transmission. If it's a transmission problem, a new tranny from ford will fix it, so specify that as the repair and tell the warranty company that they have a choice, they can pay for diagnosis and whatever repair the tech deems necessary, they can pay for a new trans, or they can pay for a new trans and your court costs when you sue them for defaulting on the warranty agreement.