[reverend]

2000 Taurus, V6 automatic. On very cold days (wind chill -0) The shifter will move from park to neutral easily but will not move to drive until I try about three or four times. Is there a shield or something that could be missing allowing the linkage to freeze? Once the car warms up, it can be shifted fine. Only first attempt after sitting outside in sub zero weather shows the problem.
I tried the search function here and did not find anything. I am new to the site and still learning my way around so forgive me if I make a mistake.

 

[DaveX 3.0]

On my '96, this started happening to me. It got tighter and tighter. I had to really force it into each gear selection. I also noticed that the needle on the dash wasn't aligned with each selection exactly. The cable ended up breaking. So, it might be a sign that you're shift cable is getting ready to break too.