98 ford taurus 108,000 miles tranmission problem engine 3.0

First I change filter and tranny fluid.Does fluid have a burt smell to it ,and what is the color of the fluid?So is sliping out of drive when moving?Check gear shift cable.Might need ajustment.then we will go from there.
ray

hello,
yes it slips when the car is first started and driven, after some time it stops slipping like its in neutral and runs ok sometimes seems to have difficulty shiftin while driving i hope that explains what i mean.

color of fluid is brown not sure if it smells burnt my friend checked it and added to it.
is that a bad thing if its brown?

is my transmission on its way out ?
thats what someone said it was on its way out and will cost 1500 bucks to replace it this shop owner has not seen my car yet , it was his verbal opinion.
im having trouble believing that.
will taking it to a shop and having them change that tranny fluid and filter help it?
thanks so much for your responses

I have a 89 ford van I got at the auction 5 years ago.When I first drove it iIwould go done the road and come to a stop it would jerk.Had a machanic
tight the bans in tranny it fixed the problem.But first change filter and fluid.Cheap way to start,Brown is'nt good,Needs changing for sure,may do the trick.Let me know and check for metal chunks in trannypan when changin filter.
Ray

My opinion is that you should take it to a trans shop, LOCALLY-owned, not a major national brand, and have them diagnose it for codes, whatever.. could be shift solenoids, clutches, the planetary gearset could be coming apart, if it's doing weird things obviously something is out of whack.. how low was the fluid??? If the trans is not shifting as commanded by the pcm, it'll most likely set some sort of trans code, it checks the rpm and gear, among other things, against the program installed, there are all kinds of trans codes.. do you have a blinking or illuminated od light???