Whenever i start my car cold and start driving there is a strange whining/moaning sound, almost like a ghost coming from the engine, it sounds like its coming from the right side and it fades in and out depending on rpms. After the car has warmed up for about a minute the noise stops and wont come back till the next time i start it up in the morning. I asked the dealer and they looked at it but couldnt find anything wrong and told me not to worry about it. Could this be my waterpump bearings going bad? with just under 100,000 miles on it i know this could be the case.

could be the p/s pump - I was told by a volvo tech mine is "noisy" too.

I recall this happening with mine back in January when I bought it. It stops inside a mile and only occurs on cold mornings. It's the 850 "ghost". There were as many posts about it early this year as there were AC posts when summer rolled around. Nothing to worry about. FWIW, my 855t doesn't have the air pump so that's not it.
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Erwin in Memphis, '95 855t

Erwin, you've provided the first meaty clue on what it's not -- which is the first step to what it is. Thanks!

BTW, I never once thought it to be coming from the L side where the airpump is (as you're in the car), more on the right. In fact, one day I think I reproduced the sound by pressing on the timing belt plastic cover/guard, but I couldn't confirm because the sound I'm sure changes with the distance to the cabin.

Ok, one possibility down, 10 or 20 to go...

The 850 engine also has an air pump that will activate to warm up the engine faster in cold temperatures, for emissions purposes. It should whine up, run, and then die off once your engine has warmed up. That is normal operation if the sound is coming from the air pump.

Sounds like your catalytic warmer. If your fall temperature
is starting to get low⎴s 50s] your warmer will kick in for 5 mins or so.

Maybe others can back me up.

This worried me at first but was relieved to learn it's normal.

rd