86 caravan, 2.6L (mitsubishi), 3 speed auto;

after being driven for a while, mostly after you've been on the highway, and then come back into town.. it feels like it doesnt wanna shift out of first any more. You can take off, and either A) wait til it's revving real high going about 30 and then it'll shift... or B) take your foot completely off the gas and it'll shift into second.... The fluid that the guy who sold it to me put in there, is pink... like pepto bismol, and looks real thin...(i've never seen fluid that looked like that) Should i go to a thicker fluid or something?

 

Sounds like your need to flush your system and replace filter and make sure you use the correct fluid

 

I had shifting issues with my '93 tranny (3.0L V6) several years ago. Everything I read said to only use Mopar fluids, so I dropped the pan andreplaced the fluid (this method only changes4 or5 qts, I think the tranny holds 12 qts) and filter, but still had the problem. Dealer recommended thecomplete transmission power flush, and this solved the problem. I read that using off brand fluids results in tranny damage (hard to imagine, but several posts I read sedemed to bear this out).

 

Okay on most 3 speed transmissions they still used a govneror and valves up to 1995. your govneror is sticking causing not to upshift. Take the govneror apart and clean, the bolts holding the govneror in place is 7mm.The valve body would need to come out and adjust the bands at the same time.