1997 silverado transmission problem or something else?? please help!
 

my 1997 chevy silverado with the 350 vortec and 4l60e is acting like it is starting out in second gear, but feels like it is shifting through 1st -4th. also tranny pump sounds like it is making noise, but it could be something else making the high pitched whinning sound when in gear. reverse is very sluggish and so is first, but is very responsive in speeds above 35 mph. (which is why it feels like its starting out in a higher gear). when in 4 wheel drive, especially in the snow, with the peddle to the floor there isnt much power, truck is very bogged down. what could be causing this? i can also manually shift down in all the gears and it shifts just fine. might not even be the transmission. but like i said, very sluggish/bogged down when first starting out and in reverse. what could be the cause of this? And what could i do to fix it? I am running out of ideas. I tried changing the fuel filter, cleaning the maf sensor, and checked all fluids, exc.. and nothing seemed to fix the problem. please help me!!

What did the screen and tranny fluid look like? I also believe there is a magnet in the tranny pan? Could also be a transfer case issue.

well a speed sensor went out a while back in my t-case, but i replaced that but maybe that could of been a beginning to more problems? and the tranny fluid is a dark red almost a rust color, and after a couple thousand miles i have to put another quart of tranny fluid in.

Could be a cloged cat converter. Un bolt the front pipe and drive it .