Anyone had these symptoms with a 904?

CudaFactHackJob said

I wouldn't even bother with the fluid and filter; just a waste of money. $4 a quart plus filter and gasket all for nothing. When the filter clogs you lose all movement; both forward and reverse. And what clogged it? Your clutch fiber material. Even a stack of old used clutches would be an improvement; as long as the clearance was right.

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I would agree with at least checking the filter due to the explanations of noises and function from it, as pretty much everything mentioned could be caused by a loss or restriction of fluid pressure.
Fluid pressure losses or aeration can even cause skipped shifts and wild variations in shift points.
Usually a plugging filter will cause the loss of reverse first, since reverse uses more fluid to engage than the forward gears and also has more places in the circuit to loose fluid around sealing rings and the reverse servo seals.

That said, you are probably correct in your statement that the trans is in worse condition than what a plugged up filter would cause.