Tranny Help!

[81Scottsdale520]

So i have a 350 turbo automatic tranny and im not sure if its low on fluid or just giving out. the problem is that its not shifting accurately, like it takes about a few seconds before shifting and at the time it should shift it has the engine revving, the reason i ask about the fluid is because the dipstick is im guessing not the correct one because it is way off. and i ask that because i know that the fluid needs to reach a certain pressure or something for it to shift? i just wanna know what you guys think before i do anything..

[donut]

What leads you to believe the dipstick is way off?
You can get the proper dipstick from a junkyard or possibly from the dealership. Dealership had mine for the turbo 400, in stock. (iirc, about 20.00)
Other option, drop the pan and check/remark the dipstick. Fluid level is just below the pan gasket. Besides, you can see how much of the trans is in the bottom of the pan.

IMO, if it was run that low on fluid, the damage may already be done. Add some fluid and see what it does. Kinda, hope for the best, plan for the worse.

[crashz]

Donut gives good advice.

How does the fluid look on the dip stick? Clean, clear and pink/red is a good sign. Cloudy, brown and sludgy is not. If the fluid condition is poor, try dropping the pan. If its just brown, with slude in the pan (clutch material), clean it real well, clean the magnet (metal fuzz is normal, chuncks are not!), replace the filter and fill with new fluid. It wouldn't hurt to put a new pan with a drain plug on it so that you could periodically re-fresh the fluid. The TC holds the majority of fluid and a pan change only removes about a 3rd of the nasty old stuff. About 5 drain and fills will get about 95% of the old fluid out.

I'll add that if you do find a bunch of junk in the pan, don't fret to much. A good trans shop will likely be able to rebuild the TH350 for a very reasonable price (ie: probably the cheapest auto to rebuild on the planet!). If you do have to rebuild, do your self a favor and bypass the orginal trans cooler and add a new aux cooler instead. Seems like garbage left in the orginal coolers take out new rebuilds all the time, even when flushed out.