Originally Posted by Firebird_Sadie

I come to you all for a bit of help. I've a 1989 Camaro RS, with too many problems to list. I'm concerned about my transmission, and would appreciate any advice on how to fix the problems I'm going to list:

-It takes 3-4 seconds to shift into OD or D.
-Sometimes, when I come to a stop, the engine will die. I have to keep my foot on the accelerator to keep it from doing so. A friend told me that it was the Torque Converter, and if so, how would one go about fixing it?
-Reverse works fine, it shifts into it normally.
-The big problem: OD and D shifting. On a normal start, when the engine is cold, and I start driving, it shifts like normal. For instance:
1 to 2: 10mph
2 to 3: 25mph
3 to 4: 35mph
4 to Overdrive: Kills the engine once it warms up enough that it wants to shift. Such as, once it hits 150-180 degrees, and it's in 4th gear going about 45-50 mph, and it tries to shift, it shakes and chugs. I had tried flooring it to make it stop trying to shift into overdrive, but it would still bog it down. Then, once it died, I could start the car, but it'd die again, even in neutral. I've tried driving in D, but the same thing happens. Once it warms up enough, it tries to shift early, and kills itself going into 4th. I've tried throwing it into neutral when it tries to kill itself, and when coming to a stop, but it will still kill it. Mind you, this only happens if I start to drive it around when it's cold.

However...

I've temporarily solved this problem by letting the car warm up fully before I drive it, and then it shifts like this:
1 to 2: 10mph
2 to 3: 20mph
3 to 4: 30mph
4 to overdrive: 35mph
It doesn't kill the engine then, but it feels like it's shifting way too early. What could my problem be? I don't mind having to wait for it to warm up fully, but if I'm in a rush, it's just a pain to have to wait.