erratic shifting with th350

vacuum and kick down was disconnected when i bought van. and would shift late and no downshift. have both connected now, just got kickdown cable set correct yestarday. after a short test drive, it was upshifting perfect but a little lazy on downshift. i assumed minor adjustment. went out for a few hour drive and it slowly started to work better, then it eventually went to shifting late. i didnt change anything. double checked kickdown and it is releasing fine, disconected vacuum and still have late shifting. i do know that torque converter is bad as it grabs at or below 400 rpm's. just confused as to shift pattern randomly changing. has a slight whine like power steering pump. fluid is full and red, doesnt slip, has new modulator. i havent changed filter yet, and have new converter waiting to install. due to surgery, i can not do the work for a couple more weeks, and know very little about automatics. would dirty filter do this? kick down sticking inside tranny? anyway to loosen it?

I dont know about all that, but I do know the filter can pick up debris and clog and then release it if you shut the engine off to start the cyclle over again. and also cause the starving pump whine.

the whine is faint, but there. started cold today and still shifted late and a little hard. couple hours later, all is good. the new tranny fluid is more than the filter so i will change it when i do torque converter. i would switch to 700r4 before dumping any serious money in it.