what's up with this?
 

the other day my car was not wanting to shift until about 3500rpms. what could be the cause of this? from first gear it will tach WAY up there and then violently shift into second. and when it did this it didn't down shift properly. it went into third gear and i put the pedal to floor just to test it and it didn't kick down. it would only drop back into first after i had completely stopped. i thought this problem was due to my computer program, but i've been riding around with the OBD2 and it still does it. however, it corrects itself after i turn the car off and restart it. this is not a consistent problem though. it only happens once in a blue moon. the other day the car wouldn't start for some reason... all the power would come on but it wouldn't try to turn over. i let it rest for about 5min and it finally fired up but then i had the shifting problem. it may just be coincidence, but every time i have this problem it's blistering hot outside and my car had been sitting all day. sorry for the long post. thanks for the help.

anyone? i know it's tricky, but do you guys think i would just have to start taking stuff apart to find out?

Well the no start and temp I would check grounds and make sure the PRNDL (neutral switch) under console is working properly showing the correct gear

okay, i'll check that thanks.

Any codes???? Mine had the same problem as yours without the starting prob. It would hang in gear and shift extremely hard, then it wouldnt down shift unless it was wot and only go down one gear. turns out it was the tps, it would show 0% at times when driving and would show 14-15% at idle. on fresh starts it would be fine for a while but was also intermitten. something to look at

Agreed the TPS can cause similar symptoms also since the PCM does not know the throttle opening.

the light did come on briefly, but then it went off. i've been thinking it was tps actually. could this also be the cause for it hitting the rev limiter with the OBD1 at wot?

Yes a bad TPS could cause it to hit the rev limiter,

Perhaps limp mode? Sounds like you're not starting off in first gear. Are you SURE you're starting in first? Count the shifts. Make sure you get 1->2, 2->3, 3->4, 4->lockup

While you're at it, clean your MAF. It seems like so many transmission problems are because of a dirty or damaged MAF...

thanks for the help guys i'll check it all. i'm really hoping the tps is the big culprit though.

Good Luck