Car shifts to neutral when trying to accelerate from stopped position

[soik90]

If I am stopped and the car is in drive (D4 or D3), when I accelerate the car shudders for a moment and it seems to shift to neutral. I have to shift to 2 to get the car back in gear and moving. Is anyone familiar with this problem? I haven't been able to find a solution anywhere. I deal with it by always shifting to 2 when coming to a stop. Then once I'm accelerating again I shift back to D4. The car has several other issues but I don't think they're related to this one.

[1987LXiHatch]

Sounds like something to do with 1st gear.. Im not a transmission expert, but when in D3 or D4, the car starts in 1st from a stop.. When in 2, it starts out in 2nd gear and once you throw it into D3 or D4, it will either stay in 2nd or switch into the appropriate gear depending on speed and throttle which by that point, is not 1st gear..

[Dr_Snooz]

What color is your transmission fluid?