Should my Automatic start in 1st or 2nd?

[StickleyStyle]

I have a 65 230SL that I’m just now getting back on the road after about a 12 year “nap”. One of the things that never impressed me about the car ever since I have had it was its sluggish acceleration from a dead stop due to the fact it starts out in second gear. It always gave me an uneasy feeling when I needed to move out of the way quickly as the car would not, unless I pulled the selector (oh, I guess I should mention we are talking an automatic) down to the 2nd position. In this position the car scooted just fine. I just thought maybe this is how it was designed and never gave any additional thought to it. Well, after joining this SL group and having access to all this fine information from so many knowledgeable folks I discovered that there seems to be some variation in transmission designs where some start in first and others start in second. So my question is: how do I know if I have a malfunctioning transmission or not. Without pulling the selector to the "2" position, what gear should it start from? Am I missing something here?

Thank you all in advance for any information.

Phil

[Neil Thompson]

Phil I believe if in drive the car sets off in second gear as yours does

Neil

[Cees Klumper]

I'm pretty sure all automatics start off in 2nd in 'D' unless, as you describe, you put the selector in '2' (or floor it so kickdown engages, but not sure about that). Bottom line I think your car's trans works as intended, and you may want to check other possible causes for the sluggishness.

[Benz Dr.]

They all start in second to prevent wheel spin in less than nominal conditions.
I would look at the kick down linkage. We found that it needs to be moving freely or it will affect how well the car moves from a stop.

At idle and in gear, the rod should move to the rear. As soon as you touch the gas pedal it should move forward slightly and it should move forward all the way when you hit the kick down switch. I've seen the bushing inside of the kick down switch ( KDS ) sieze up enough that it wouldn't move, or just enough that it wouldn't move all the way. The linkage running from the KDS to the modulator valve can also sieze at the hiem joints.
 
Not only does the shaft have to move fully forward during kick down but it also has to move all the way to the rear when there is no pressure on the throttle linkage. This helps to soften down shifts. If the linkage is stuck in the rear position your car will be slow. Of course, it may be slow for some other reason.