I drove around for 30 miles just "chilling". Very normal driving.

I could feel it shifting a lot in the lower gears. It downshifted sometimes hard too. Sometimes from a stop when I wanted to go it hesitated then kicked.

So my real question is this. What would cause the transmission to act that way? Many people here say that when the transmission fails it has to do with internal failure and not with the transmission fluid (not being changed, wouldn't have made a difference).

2001 3.0 103,000 miles.

If it does fail, will I be able to drive it home in the transmission safe mode?