It could be a number of things, from the pump going bad, seals failing, clutches burnt, etc... I am not saying that the issue is guaranteed to be a plugged filter, but it is a possibility. If the filter is plugged and swapping it out helps the problem or seems to fix it overall, you are still on borrowed time as something failed to leave enough debris in there to plug the filter.

If it were me I would drop the pan and swap the filter. Worst case scenario you are out $20 - $25 for a filter and some fluid. If that still doesn't do much you could try the seafoam at about $10. To me $35 is worth the risk for a chance to give me a little more time to prep for a swap.

Well, just got out from underneath the car. Its all bolted back together with a filter, but I haven't put fluid in it yet (I don't have any)... I was unsure if I was going to reuse the old fluid, but it came out black... and there was a lot of metal in it. This tranny is certainly on its last miles, and I can definitely see this stuff clogging the filter. The magnet was huge because of all the metal and sludge build up.

Tomorrow I'll pick up some cheap tranny fluid from Walmart and see how many times around the block I get.

BKNJ

Pick up some expensive fluid from wall Mart, dexron vi. You might be amazed at the results.

IIUC, all available GM tranny fluid is Dex VI. Perhaps I might still have an odd Dex III here or there hiding in one of the garages.

Does anyone sell Dex III today?!?

Kind of a moot point though, the car already had Dex VI in it.

"Does anyone sell Dex III today?!?"

Everyone sells DEX III, DEX VI is hard to come by at many places, and is often double the price of DEX III at the chain autopart stores.

Wal Mart has a great price on DEX VI, but often is out of stock or only a few bottles on hand. Because Wal Mart is so much cheaper than the Autopart chains on DEX VI, but don't stock enough- I have made it a point to pickup DEX VI every time I go to Wal Mart, rather than be caught low when I am doing a flush.

Ah, I see... Dex/Merc is all Dex III.

I guess I don't pay as close attention to tranny fluid as I used to (when my cars used to leak a lot more)... and when I was doing the last batch of filter and fluid swaps, I had the extra cash to just buy Dex VI across the board.

Looking at the difference between Dex VI and Dex III, it seems Dex VI is thinner for better fuel economy. I would question if a thinner fluid is a good idea for the situation I'm in.
I would think thicker is better to hold the clutches together _just_ a little longer.

DEX VI focus is not on fuel economy. DEX VI is well documented in resolving fricition realted issues to include transmission chattter on AWD GM vehicles and reducing tranny failures. I would never use DEX III ever, DEX VI might be the biggest upgrade in tranny fluid in the past 50 years.

What brand is the Dex VI at walmart? I can never seem to find it?

Wal mart brand, super tech, blue container.

u might try dumping the old fluid, putting, in new filter and replacing fluid with hydraulic fluid and adding 1 qt of Lucas trans. additive.