Arrowstorm

first of all, I have been having transmission problems. There is no slipping or anything, but at first, the transmission would not shift into 4th gear. Now, it won't shift out of 3rd, and even starts in 3rd gear, I believe and won't shift at all. So my pal works on cars a good bit and he suggested that we changed the transmission filter, and we did. We put some fluid back in there, and he told me to keep checking the level and after a few days, it should start shifting again. Couple days later, and it still wasn't shifting, so my other pal said it might be the modulator valve. Trouble is.. we couldn't FIND a modulator valve anywhere on my transmission. So we checked the fluid level and it was still way low. I ended up having to add about 8 quarts of fluid to the transmission.

But it's still not shifting at all. My pal swears to me there's nothing wrong with the transmission and that eventually, with the correct fluid level it will start shifting again, but it hasn't yet. Any suggestions?

Also, there is a coolant flow restriction. I can see some movement in the radiator when I take the cap off and the engine is running, but it's very minimal. I changed the water pump about 2 years ago and the radiator is brand new as well. Also installed a 160degree thermostat a couple months ago because my engine does tend to run a little hot. I believe there was a 190 on there. Other than guessing that the water pump went out, I have no other ideas why the coolant just isn't flowing. Any ideas?

Buz

American Lead

is there a screen filter in the transmission??