Transmission will not shift down into first manually. It holds at 2nd. Normal?

[Corellian Corvette]

Not sure if this is normal or strange, so hoping others can help. 68 Charger, Big Block with a 727.

I was playing around with the transmission last night and shifting manually. I noticed that, for some reason, the car will not manually shift down into first. If I'm driving ~ 35 mph and shift into 2nd, it makes the expected 2nd gear downshift and the RPM's come up. If I shift down into 1st, however, nothing happens. It holds in 2nd gear.

Even if I shift from 3rd DIRECTLY to 1st - it still only holds in 2nd gear. So I can drive around with the lever in 1st gear, but still be in 2nd.

However - if I start to decelerate, and get down to say 20mph, the car will suddenly shift into 1st. But only around 20-25mph. At that point, I can hold the car in first and accelerate again without an upshift. But the minute I go into 2nd, the car will not go back into first unless I slow down again.

Now - shifting into first at 35mph I'd be running some serious RPM's - so it's not really a bother. But I thought it was strange. Is this normal behavior for the tranny?

[kcederwall08]

My car is the same way, it only shifts into first while moving unless its under 30mph. I think its just a safety feature of the valving in the transmission, but I may be wrong.

You can probably eliminate this feature with a shift kit or manual valve body.

[Jon Smith]

I think that is how its supposed to work...I'm sure someone with more knowledge than me will be along to confirm it though

[carolina charger]

 That is the way it supposed to work. It prevents you from over revving the engine.

[mally69]

That is normal, but just by putting in a manual valve body will not eliminate that becuase there is no hold back in 1st gear with a manual valve body. it feels like it coasts when you let off the throttle

[TylerCharger69]

That's normal....it won't kick into first until the car is going slow enough.    In other words....if you are doing 35 mph....and shift to 1st....it will take a while to shift until the speed of the car is slow enough to make that shift safely without major damage

[bordin34]

I guess my trans is not normal then, I can drop mine into first at 50mph and will even screech the tires on the downshift. But I do have 2.45 rearend gears so it wont over-rev at 50.

[John_Kunkel]

Reprogramming kits like the TF-2 offer a modification that allows downshifting to first at any speed.

Axle ratio does play a part in what road speed downshifts can be made, lower numeric axle ratios make the transmission think the car is traveling at a lower road speed.

[c00nhunterjoe]

i do beleive it has to do with the govenor in the tranny

[Corellian Corvette]

Awesome. As long as it's supposed to work that way, I'm totally fine. I really see no need to shift down to 1st in normal driving, but I wanted to make sure it was working properly. Thanks!!