I need some input!

[Chadick]

I have a 1997 850R wagon which I am on the tail end of a three month project to rebuild or replace almost everything on this car. I have refurbished the timing belt system, coolant system, ignition system, subframe bushings, all engine mounts, full front and rear suspension with coilovers, steering rack, PVC system, full brake system, rear main seal with transmission seals, drive shafts, vacuum lines, IPD turbo intake pipe and a IPD RIP kit!

Prior to the start of the project, I drove the car for 2,000 miles with no issues. The car ran and drove fine, even with everything on the car being rotten. The car has 130k miles on it. No history on the car. Engine and turbo are strong. First transmission fluid change, the transmission fluid smelled bad and was dark. Transmission never flinched with a fluid change. Second transmission fluid change after transmission install.

I have two questions. The first.

I have read the internet and watched Robert DIY’s transmission removal and install videos. The toque converter was removed from the transmission, with no fluid lost from the torque converter. I was sure to confirm the setting depth of the toque converter when installing. After reinstalling the trans and adding fluid, fluid shows to be a touch high. Spent 10 seconds sitting in each of the gear shifting locations, with the brake on. No ugly noises when driving. Reverse works fine.

During the test drive, the transmission did not seem to want to shift out of 1st gear. I can get the car up to freeway speed by manually shifting the car into all four gears by manipulating L, 3 and then D, with a blinking arrow on the dash the whole time. If the car comes to a stop in D, the car will go back to 1st and stay there until I manually shift to L or 3.
I thought I might have broken the ABS harnesses while installing the new front suspention parts, cuz they were hacked on while messing with the front coilovers. I replaced the harnesses with no change.
Does this sound like a lack of fluid somewhere in the transmission or something unplugged or I did put the transmission backwards?

Second question.

While driving, the turbo has a very loud whistle that was not there before this project started. The IPD turbo intake pipe is a 3” and the stock turbo is 2.5”. IPD state the pipe will clamp onto this 0.5” size difference without issue. Wondering if it is leaking, but I cannot see the coupling point to determine a visual fit. When driving at freeway seed, the turbo gage only read a maximum of 5ish PSI of boost and at idle, the gage appears to read -5 PSI.
Does this sound like the RIP kit or intake pipe is leaking? The whistling sound is strong next to the turbo. Or is this is a characteristic of the new silicon pipes, is there a way of muffling the whistle?

I appreciate y’alls time, thank you for reading!