Volvo: transmission 1988 240DL, metal shavings, corellation

Question
I have a transmission problem on my 1988 240DL stationwagon that is getting progressively worse.  Started as noise that comes and goes (like a med/high RPM rubbing/grinding?)while idling (in gear) - (but always fades away when the RPM picks up and/or after shifting into 2nd).  Next, intermittently,but increasing in frequency and duration, car gets stuck in 1st gear during cold start, then after repeated attempts of stopping/slowing, speeding up, putting in p/r/n/1/2/d it will suddenly work on an attempt and be fine for the rest of the trip.  (none of the playing with gears seems to do anything, the only corellation I sense at all with transmission working or not is engine temperature.)  Any thoughts?

Answer
It sounds like you have an internal issue with the transmission.  The first thing to try would be to flush the transmission fluid and see if it helps the problem.  When you do, check the old fluid carefully for metal shavings, or a rank smell.  If the fluid change does nothing, you're unfortunetly looking at taking apart the transmission to find the culprit, and might be looking at a required rebuild.  The opinion of a trusted mechanic who can drive the car might be in order here.  Good luck!