Can't start moving in 2nd gear

[DennisG01]

Should I be able to start from a standstill in 2nd gear? When I am stopped and manually put the tranny into 2nd gear the truck still starts off in 1st gear. Shouldn't it start off in 2nd?

[Kidd]

Auto tranny? Nope.. all that putting it into 2 does is limit the shift to 2nd gear.
K.D.

[norm]

Some auto trannies were designed to start in 2nd and stay in 2nd when selected. My '95 does not. Two F**d C6's I have owned did. I had a '98 K2500 P/U with a 350 that I thought did, but that was 5 yrs ago. Maybe they are not all the same?

[tanker]

All 4L80E transmissions, start in 1st. gear no matter what forward range is selected. I'm sure if you could, the transmission would not last long, starting in such a high range. smile.gif

[DennisG01]

Thanks everyone. Tanker, that makes sense. Besides, if my tires start slipping, that's what 4WD is for, right?

[Tony J.]

The only vehicle I can recall that did this was a '94 Grand Prix we had. There was a button on the dash to deliberately start off in 2nd to reduce torque for snowy conditions. I can't recall ever seeing/driving a vehicle that was designed to do that all the time...

Just my .02- I'm certainly no expert!

[Scottpearce]

My 94 2500 Chevrolet Conversion van would start in 2nd if you had the selector in second. It was a 350 TBI, not sure if it was a 4l80 or 4l60, but I would imagine that it was a 4l80, being a 3/4 ton chassis.

[DmaxMaverick]

I had 2 '95 gassers with 350 and 4L60 that did, one GMC, one Chevy. They even had a sticker on the visor and a page in the manual that described the operation. The purpose is to reduce torque when taking off on ice/snow, like you might with a manual tranny. It was actually very effective.

The '95 Chevy 2500 with 6.5L and 4L80 does not start in 2nd. Starts in 1st no matter which gear is selected.