first post guys take it easy.. im a diesel mechanic, so i don't know the nature of this beast. lol anyway 97 civic here wont complety engage 1st it will move but you must turn it 4000 rpm to do so(like a stall converter) however if i hold the brake (powerbrake) it will engage 1st until i let off the brake pedal then slips again... i hooked it up to our scanner and you can see were it is in first when you put it in d4 but it will go 2nd with little pedal.. it don't seem to actually shift to 2nd tho it's staying in first.. i ohm tested the shift solenoids on the front side of the tranny and they were in spec 15-25 ohms. also when i drove it it didn't want to go into overdrive for a few country blocks on the highway.. any help is greatly appreciated. i don't feel that the tranny is bad i just cant decifer why it would engage only with the brake pedal on... it happend all of a sudden today was working fine yesterday and she only has 99000 mile what solenoids are on the bottom passenger by the c v shaft?? please point me in the right way

 

Has the auto trans fluid been changed recently (or is low)? Just wondering if there's an air bubble in there that's not creating vacuum pressure.

Have you checked all the hoses on the engine to make sure there's not a vacuum leak there?