'97 auto with 182XXX miles, I think its slipping. Stutters when driven hard and just generally performs.... strangely. What are the tell-tale signs of a slipping tranny?

 

slipping is when it slams into gear fast.

 

Shortshifter? JK
Its fine under regular driving, just acts wierd when I drive fast (really fast, not just quickly)

 

uhhh.... maybe you shouldn't be driving that fast in the 1st place

 

There is nothing wrong with a little accel. Im not a 100mph-on-sidestreets kinda guy

 

Ok, I figured out how to word this - my tranny sucks at shifting. It holds onto gears for too long and often feels like it skips gears alltogether (2nd straight to 4th). From a stop under very little throttle it doesnt shift up until 3000-3500. Also, I floored it today and it banged off the rev limiter at ~6800, in second. I took my foot off the gas, it shifted up and was fine. Any thoughts?

 

The trans senses when you are flooring it, and holds the gears longer. If it's doing this when you are not lead-footing it then maybe an adjustment is needed... TPS?

 

I believe this is the definition of slipping since my transmission does this. It behaves pretty normal under WOT but anything else is as i'm about to describe. Under very normal light throttle during the shifts the engine can actually be revved up a few hundred RPM's for a very very brief second. It doesnt shift FAST and not abnormally hard either. When slowing down from say 60 to 30 and then resuming normal acceleration the transmission seems to variate between gears like it can't make up its mind. It's extremely annoying, the tachometer is up and down all over the lower part of the RPM range and you can just feel it struggling to pick a damn gear.
My transmission was very predictable when i first got it, but after my beating on it, it all went downhill. I think the 00vi really pushed it over the edge with WOT downshifts and having that much more power up top.

 

Here is what's been suggested to me:
Converter
valve body/line pressure
shift accumulators
wiring harness

Im bringing the car home this weekend and leaving there for the week at my mechanic's.

 

First thing you need to do is check the fluid. Is it dark? are there metal shavings? One of the major tell tale signs is th presence of metal in the fluid. You may need nothing more than a fluid change but do not flush the fluid until you are positive the tranny itself is in proper working condition. A slipping tranny will rev high but not go very fast (think of a 10-speed bicycle in the lowest gear at high speeds). It will also slam when changing gears. Won't necessarily have all of these symptoms.

 

I checked the fluid level about a week or two ago and it was fine. I'll check again today, yeah