When I put my truck in D and takeoff, it will start in 1st gear no problem. When I come to a stop and take off again, it starts in 2nd. If I come to a stop and drop it to manual 1st it takes off in 1st gear no problems. If I come to a stop and pop it into N/R/P and put it back to D it will start in 1st again, but as soon as I come to a stop it wants to start in 2nd.

Sound like a fluid/valve issue?

Your governor is sticking. Did this suddenly start happening, or has some work recently been done to the vehicle or trans? Like the radiator being replaced. I have seen when the radiator has been replaced, trash gets into the trans, and hangs up the valves and governor. You need to remove the governor for inspection. It is located on the passenger side under the cover with 4 bolts. Remove it and hold it by the plastic gear, and squeeze in on the weights, the valve in the center should move up and down. If it is stuck, you need to remove the pan for inspection, bigger problems are most likely the cause.

Jim, thanks for the response. I pulled the gov last week and inspected it. Valve moved freely as well the weights. However, I did not disassemble it. I'll revisit this and disassemble this time. Thanks again.

Was there any ersolve to this probelm.. I am having the exact same problems with my TH350.. I had the governor apart and cleaned multiple times and still will start in second once you are moving..From P, R,N it will start in 1st, but thats it.. I took the spool valve out and everything cleaned it real good and re assembled it, still starts in second once it gets moving.. Im clueless

The governor is usually worn when this occurs.

The fluid gets hot/thin, the worn gov and/or gov bore and you get a significant crossleak that causes 2nd gear starts.

The governor body should measure .800". If it's less than .7985, replace it.

Thanks, I will measure it when I get home... The thing is though, all this started happening when I changed the weights for a later shift.. I changed the weights once and it shifted out at 6500, a little too late for my engine, but but everything worked as it should. So i took it back out and put in a heavier weight, it shifted out where I wanted it, but thats when the second gear starts started happening.. So I took it back out and cleaned everything real good, figuring I got a piece of dirt of something in it and put it back together... same thing.. I only time I get 1st gear is shifting from park, then once I start moving and come to a stop and I have to put it in neutral and back into drive for it to get 1st again... I will measure it, but it seems tight in the bore when I slide it in...Would you have any other suggestions?

The governor is usually worn when this occurs.

The fluid gets hot/thin, the worn gov and/or gov bore and you get a significant crossleak that causes 2nd gear starts.

The governor body should measure .800". If it's less than .7985, replace it.

Jake, the body measures exactly .800" , definitly not any less. I put the lighter weights back in with the stock springs, and I got my first gear back... I dont know why, when I put 1 stock weight back on with 1 lighter weight, my first gear goes away...