87' 88 Downshifts while braking? Any ideas?

Hi all,
I have an 87 Olds Delta 88 with the 3.8 V6. A few weeks ago the check engine light came on, and when i checked it out, it was a code 32 (EGR circuit). The car was running fine at the time. Now it runs rough at idle when cold now and then, and has an intermitant problem when braking. When coming to a stop, it will brake fine until a certin point (pretty slow mabey 5 mph) and then all the sudden feels like it shifts hard into first gear. It makes for a very jerky stop. This so far has only lasted until the car has wramed up a little, then it stops normally. Could this be related to the EGR problem? Does anyone have any ideas what I could check or try to narrow this down a little bit?
Thanks in advance!
Andy

Try removing the EGR and cleaning it with throttle body cleaner. Clean the passageways whilst you're at it too. It may just be clogged with carbon build up.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try that this week. Can you see any link between the EGR and the down shifting problem?

Hmm... Off the top my head it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but I'm also not much use when it comes to transmissions. There is a small rubber hose that connects a solenoid on the trans to the rest of the vacuum system on the drivers side. If this leaks, then it will shift hard (I believe this component properly pressurizes fluid in the torque converter...).

Any vacuum leak in the system can affect both issues, look at what Alibi has suggested, but on a 20 year old car all the vacuum hoses are deteriorated, the one to the trans modulator should have strong vacuum at idle.

Could this also cause a 1993 eighty-eight shift tiself into neutral at 5 MPH? My car did this twice when I was coming to a stop at around 5MPH it shifted itself into neutral. Then it did the same thing again when I came to the next stop light, and has not done it again since then.

No, not related, low fluid level would be the most common cause of that.

The fluid level seems pretty good, but I did the filter, and changed 7 quarts of the fluid so is it maybe the new fluid mixed with the 13 quarts of old fluid? Any help is appreciated.