Whirring sound when cold on 96 accord lx with auto trans
 

It may not be the transmission but what I hear is a whirring sound that increases as I increase speed. Its coming from the front. It only does it cold and will for about 2 miles or so then it goes away. Ill try to make a recording of it, but in the meantime what might be the cause?

After starting cold, your alternator is working harder to recharge the battery. IF(?) the alternator is beginning to have a problem, it might make noise. If you can convince yourself the sound is from the alternator, then have it checked out. It might be charging OK but if the diode bridge is not evenly sharing among the poles of the rotor, you can see that with an oscilloscope. Seems to me that would be a whining sound that would follow engine RPM and not road speed - so it'll go up & down as the transmission shifts gears.

If it's the transmission, when is the last time you changed ATF? With what type of ATF fluid?

Thanks Jim,
The transmission has about 380,000 miles on it. I have had the transmission serviced around every 90,000 miles. The last few I have done myself. The last one I did at 372,000 one year ago almost to the day. When I did it I drained it and filled it with honda atv fluid and drove it around a bit, then drained it again. I did 3 total sets like that to flush out the transmission better.

On the alternator, Ill try and listen in park when its cold and see if I can tell if the sounds coming from there.

If it's coming from the trans then it might be the input shaft bearing going bad. I had this happen to me when it got cold I could hear a pitch when in neutral then get annoying as I drove. As soon as the day got warm I wouldn't hear anymore until the next morning.

Try a "poor-man's stethoscope". Take a scrap piece of garden hose up against your ear & point it around to see if that helps you pinpoint the location. Just don't get caught up in the spinning belts & pulleys...