02 1500 HD, 4L80 unknown rebuild (previous owner) Revmax 2600 converter, deep pan, shift kit

Today my transmission started slipping and won't maintain speed.
RPM's go up but speed does not.
When I come to a stop the truck won't move in any gear including reverse.
Also I hear a whining sound when it starts slowing down.

If I stop and shut the engine off for a few minutes I can start it and take off again and get about half a mile down the road.
Then the whine starts and I can no longer maintain speed and I had to do this for 4 miles to get the thing home.

I observed that the trans fluid is not looking very red any more.

I have read a couple threads that mention debris in the filter that falls out when its shut off and/or damaged filter.
Is there any other explanation for what I am experiencing?

 

It could be clogged filter or low fluid (or both). Easiest way to find out is to pull the pan and see if there's a ton of clutch mud on the bottom.

 

I pulled the pan and the filter and found... metal mania. Looks to me like some of that swirling goo from one of the ghostbusters movies.
Picture below if you can even see anything of it.
Not sure how much oil this pan is supposed to hold but it looks to me like there is not enough fluid even though the dipstick showed right in the middle of the HOT area.

Also, the filter looks ok, I am going to go ahead and replace it.
I wonder if its possible all this metal fouls up the filter then floats back down when I shut it off.
Then where is all of the metal coming from? I don't have much transmission experience but I assume this is not normal.
If I assume the trans temp gauge in the dash is ok its never gotten above 200 and normal driving is around 150. Pulling boat trailer usually 160-170.


Thanks suburbazine for your input!!
Any ideas for where to go from here? Anyone?

I'm supposed to drive this thing to indianapolis on friday to leave the country for a week plus I'm moving as soon as I get back so watching my wife pack our things as I type.
Tough to move without a truck!!

 

Forgot to mention - I am not going to pretend I have ever seen clutch mud but it appears the only thing in the bottom of my pan is more metal....

 

Post some pics of said metal. Regardless, I think it might be time for a rebuild.

 

Per your request. Picture below.

 

So where does all this come from in a supposed 20k mile transmission (I have no reason to doubt the PO)
I dont want to simply rebuild blindly just because I am having trouble.
And how do I know iif I need a complete rebuild?

I guess I am just looking for where to head from here.

 

When my converter died in my 80e it clogged the filter and made all the fluid back up in the pan making it appear it was way over full. Luckily injust had to swap converters and filter i have have put 20k of hard miles on it since.

 

If I had a bad converter I would have no problem changing it -
but how do I know what my problem is here?

 

Judging by the picture of the filter in the pan, looks like there is a nice layer of "sludge" at the bottom that appears metallic in nature. Hard to tell what is is exactly, clutch material? Bushing? Either way it looks like you may be needing a rebuild.