Long story short, I bought my first Camaro from a buddy who owns a used car lot this past Sunday. I've know the car for a while and it has been great. I fell in love with it as soon as I sat down in it and took off. I drove it home and it was fine. I drove it to the car wash and it was fine. Then I took off to the store. I turned on a road and it took off good, shifted 2nd with no problem then tried to slip back into 1st. I let off and it went back to 2nd and stayed there but wouldn't shift into 3rd. I pulled over in a parking lot and checked the fluid, it was a little dark and overfilled. I took it home and changed the fluid and filter but it didn't help. The guy I bought it from is supposed to be finding a transmission to buy if I put it in so it shouldn't be a problem by then. I was mostly wondering what is causing this? I thought maybe the 3rd/4th clutch but I don't know a whole lot about transmissions. I was also wondering if it would be worth keeping and fixing just to have. Either way I love this car and can't wait to get it back.

 

what year? is the shift arm on the trans moving with the shifter inside? does sound like something let lose,

 

The modulator on my '68 Impala caused that symptom once as I recall (40 years ago) it was a turbo 400,replaced the part and all was good.
We really need to know what year car and what trans if you want help.

 

could be if its a 4th gen Automatic sounds like could be the clutch plates need lubed,there is this stuff some transmission guys use that help the clutch plates to not stick ,so its possible it could be saved with it ,if that does not fix it then needs rebuilt more then likely,an most of that stuff is only for temporary fixs,but the right time can get better shifting for a longer period of time,but its only a guess an hear shops do it alot to get there cars off the lot ,it may have already been used if it was over full

 

There are a lot of things that can cause a clutch pack to fail as you described. They are all fixed by a rebuild kit. Once you have the transmission a part you just rebuild it. Its not worth all that work just have another issue fail in 2 weeks.

Overfilling a automatic transmission is a very fast way to ruin it. Also I find that people start adding fluid to the trans once it starts slipping. When every I check a car out for someone, if the trans is over filled I warn potential buyers there cold be an issue.

 

i thing is if you got a great deal on it thats fine but if you paid alot for high miles car your buddie should have known before he sold it to you ,but you have not told us what year is it a v6 bace v8 z28 ,an i good guess its a 4th gen couse you listed it here