Chrysler Repair: 95 Cirrus: trans refuses to shift out of low, defensive mechanism, unnecessary damage

Question
I have had some issues with our car, first the gauges went all wonky and it shifts down on its own. Sometimes the gauges work, and sometimes not.......but when we turn off the car and restart it, it sort off resets the gauges only, changing what was not working to working, like RPM gauge worked or ABS light goes off, BUT tranny is still stuck in low gear, sometimes, when we pull over and restart it again, the tranny is fine for 10 minutes, then drops to lower gear again, usually staying in lower gear, it never goes from lower gear mode to normal. It usually has to be turned off, and restarted, but in ten minutes or so, drops. The tranny guy said it was 5 different things but wasn't sure even using the computer to plug into my car. We did unplug everything there, and re attach all cables, including battery. I am lost what to do.......he said it may be the computer.......worth 600 dollars, but that may not be it, the car we just bought a month ago, and was fine, now......YIKES. Can we get the computer at a junk yard?
Tag and thanks

Answer
Hi Chris,
You have some issue with the trans as shown by the "5 different things". Did the trans guy tell you what the specific code numbers from the transmission computer were? If not, ask him to tell you what they were or read again. I have the manuals that explain what the codes mean and from that we can infer if this is major or minor issue. The refusal to shift (out of second gear, by the way) is a self-defensive mechanism that is adopted to prevent unnecessary damage until you can deal with the issue. It is called 'limp-in' mode. You will want to be sure that the codes that are read are for the transmission and not for the engine if someone else does the readout.  
The gauge issue is probably not related to the transmission and we can also deal with that later. But you can your ignition key to get any codes about the engine system: "on-off-on-off-on and leave on" doing that in 5 seconds or less elapsed time. Then watch the check engine light, which remains 'on', to see it begin to flash, pause, flash, etc. Count the number or flashes before each pause. Then repeat the process to assure an accuate count. Tell me the counts in order of appearance.
Roland