1997 Aurora Transmission Slipping?

[griffey]

Hi folks.

I have a 1997 Aurora with 120,000 miles that is otherwise in pretty good shape except that I think the transmission is starting to slip.

The car does three weird things when driving that lead me to think it is the transmission.

After stopping at a stop sign, I'll press the gas pedal and the car will get about halfway across the intersection and then totally slow down and pause for a second, and then resume speeding up (switching into 2nd gear?).

The car runs fine at 25 mph. And fine at 40 mph. But anywhere between 30 and 35 it kind of "lurches" down the road. Not that dramatic, but it is definitely noticeable.

40 up to 60 is good too. But somewhere between 60 and 65 it has the same sort of behavior. If I put the cruise at 58 it is okay. And it is okay at 67. But 62, while it won't make you sick to your stomach, it definitely rocks forward and backward as you go along.

I checked the transmission fluid when it was moderately warm (that is, I drove around for a few minutes--more than just backing into the driveway and then putting it into each gear for a few seconds) and it was at the bottom of the "cold" acceptible level (that is, the cold section is a couple of inches long, and there were arrows in the manual from the top of it to about halfway down--I was at halfway down the cold section). I added some fluid, but it still behaved the same.

Any ideas if this is a transmission problem, or something else as sinister?

I'm not planning on dumping any more money into this poor car--if anything an indication of a guess of how much longer it has to live would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

G.--