First off, how does your tranny fluid smell (burnt, blackish brown colored). The whining you hear is from the tranny pump. So that mean its either the trans is low on fluid or the pump is going out. You are having the exact same symptom I was having before my trans blew up. It first was whining, then I lost access to all gears. But I am not a tranny specialist, I am a newb myself, but this sound like exactly I went through before replacing my trans.