Hyundai Repair: transmission, exhaust leak?, hyundai excel, transmission overhaul

Question
i own an "87 hyundai excel gls, and it has been working fine for quite a while. suddenly its making a high pitched whinning only when im on the gas. now it is also not shifting properly. the engine will over rev for awhile befor it gives me a hard shift. it feels like its not excellerating until it shifts each gear. and the new top speed is about 55 miles an hour. it takes about 10 minutes for me to finally get it up to that. i could really use some help this car is my only transportation, and at 20 i support myself and cant afford to lose my allready low paying job.

Answer
Check your transmission fluid.  If it's low, check for and locate any leaks, and repair them.  If it's at the proper level, I have no good news.  In that case, based on the overrevving and hard shifting, it's very likely that you need a transmission overhaul or replacement, which in this case would likely exceed the value of the car.

My suspicion is that the whining you hear is due to abnormally high revving of the engine.  But without hearing the noise, it's difficult for me to tell.  A common failure on '86-'89 Excels was clogging of the manifold catalytic converter, which would cause lack of power and perhaps even a whistling noise from the exhaust.  It wouldn't cause abnormal transmission operation, though.