This past week, the transmission in my explorer has started whining/groaning when in gear. It's a 5r55e auto. The noise stops completely when in neutral/park. While in gear, it gets worse with engine revs. I'm leaning to the converter but I wanted to get everybody else's opinion. The fluid level is fine and the color is clear pink like new. It's been in there for about 30k miles so I'm going to drop the pan to see if I see anything or the filter's clogged.
Also, I tried to do a couple wot starts from idle and the rpm's wouldn't go past 4k like it was stuck in a higher gear or something. It used to rev to 6k then shift but now it stays around 3500-4000. I counted the gears so that's not it. It also doesn't want to downshift at wot when moving.
I recorded the sound and you can hear when I put it in drive at about 9 sec.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7lwkzw7EXtLYzF3Q0FZSGh6NEk/edit?usp=sharing
Also, I tried to do a couple wot starts from idle and the rpm's wouldn't go past 4k like it was stuck in a higher gear or something. It used to rev to 6k then shift but now it stays around 3500-4000. I counted the gears so that's not it. It also doesn't want to downshift at wot when moving.
I recorded the sound and you can hear when I put it in drive at about 9 sec.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7lwkzw7EXtLYzF3Q0FZSGh6NEk/edit?usp=sharing