car is a 1989 240 DL wagon with 188k miles

today I was on my way to a friend's house, and my car started to act funny right when I was near the freeway exit. at first I didn't notice it, but then the jerking and revving began to be more obvious. I cancelled the visit and decided to "limp" home via local streets. I first stopped the car and looked under the car. no leaks. opened the hood, engine was fine. I checked the overdrive, it still worked according to the orange arrow coming on and off when I pressed the OD button. on the way back, this is what I experienced:

1. transmission acted like it was slipping
2. noticed I could not reverse the car
3. car would kind of "jerk" forward, and the tranny acted rough whenever I moved forward from a stop
4. whizzing sound coming from the tranny when I drove--no grinding sound at all
5. tranny didn't seem to go into 3 or 4 gear
6. I noticed that when I turned the car off and then restarted it, the tranny would start off fine and seemed to shift fine until I stopped again for a stop sign or light

when I got home, I checked the ATF. the diptick reading was up to level, and it smelled fine. there was no metal particles in the ATF. months earlier I complained about my reverse gear not engaging properly, ad how it would reverse roughly if I don't step on the gas.

do I have serious tranny issues or is this an electrical/non-mechanical problem? if so, is there a fuse that I need to check? also, I hear that the 850 has the PNP thing. does the 240 have a PNP thingy that could be the culprit? eeek, I do not want to rebuild or buy a new tranny. the fact there are no leaks and the ATF appears fine, does this mean the tranny has no mechanical problems?

hmmm, I was also very low on gas, but I don't know if that had anything to do with it at all. the engine ran fine. I'm so depressed over this. I need my wagon to help me move soon! thanks!