I have a 1996 Cadillac Sedan Deville with the northstar engine and automatic trans. The problem is it wants to start out in 2nd gear instead of 1st. It shifts good other than that. It still wants to start out in second even if i pull it down in 1st with the shifter. Any help would be appreciated.

well i do beleive that to be a a 4t-80e trans.Im not a trans guy but some have a second gear start option..Ill have to wait for a trans guy to chime in.hopefully someone will see this soon

2nd gear is what you get when both solenoids are commanded off or otherwise 1 isn't working.

1st: 1-2 on, 2-3 off
2nd: 1-2 off, 2-3 off
3rd: 1-2 off, 2-3 on
4th: 1-2 on, 2-3 on

if you have a dead 1-2 solenoid, then you'll have 2nd and 3rd gears, but no 1st or 4th. i've never seen 2nd gear start on any 4T80 application, but i'm not that familiar with them either.

Isn't the 4T80-E pretty much the same thing as a 4T60-E, but built stronger?

not quite....

it would be more accurate to say that the 4T80 was basically a clean sheet design. there is probably nothing between the two that will interchange.

4T60 and 4T65 are related, but the 4T80 doesn't seem to have anything common with either of them. the 4T40/4T45 seems to have a few design cues from the 4T80 though, but obviously significantly weaker.

I got it now. I figured if it was in the 4T family, it would be similar in design, (beside it being stronger).

Did you scan for codes? I have not seen this problem in a 4T80 yet.

No codes. Someone said theres a solenoid for first gear that may be bad but I thought if one was bad another gear was a problem also.