Toyota Repair: 1990 3SFE Camry(non-all trac) Auto-trans problems, 1990 toyota camry, toyota camry

Question
Vehicle: 1990 Toyota Camry 2.0 FWD Automatic Transmission (230,000 Miles on Motor and Trans)

Dear Ted,
I recently bought this vehicle with about 220,000 miles on it. It's about 230,000 now. I have changed the transmission oil and the filter about 5k miles ago. The engine is regularly maintenced. I recently changed out the water pump, timing belt, fuel filter and O2 sensor. It has been running great since then. Then one day it gave me this problem. So heres my problem: I start the vehicle ... it runs fine ... Reverse gear works perfectly... nuetral perfect ... but then i put into drive and it begins to die ... then it dies. It feels like driving a standard vehicle out of first gear without pushing the accelerator peddle enough (it shakes and then dies). I have tried disconnecting the battery for about 5 min ( just incase the transmission has electrical problems, so it can reset <--- I have no clue about transmissions but i figured it might work). I checked the transmission oil ... it seems good (just a little dark, and doesnt smell burned. I checked all vacuum lines, they were replaced recently, and they were all connected and good. I tried it with the O/D switch in the "off" position. I tried it with the "power" button engaged. I tried putting the gear selector on the 1st gear. Still same results. I know the motor mounts are bad, I know the top right one is. But i dont think that would have that much of an effect on it for it to die. I applied the gas as needed (enough so it doesnt die, kind of like a standard vehicle) and took it for a spin around the block. I can "floor it" and nothing still same rpms. But if i have it in park or nuetral or reverse I can hit all normal rpms with no problems ( the car moves normal in reverse also). I asked my father about it and he could it could be "stuck" in a gear, like if the torque converter is bad. What do you think Ted? And what would you do in my situation? Replace trans with low mile junk one? or replace torque converter itself? (if it is torque converter?) All labor will be done by me.

Thanks,
Rick

Answer
It sure sounds like a transmission problem, I have not seen many torque converter problems on this model year camry, my advice would be to just replace it with a low mileage unit from one of the vendors that specializes in used engines and transmissions, they all come with a torque converter.