my automatic transmission starts out in 4th gear

The 4 speed automatic transmission in my 92 Accord starts out in 4th
gear and has no passing gear "kick down". If I manually shift from
1st thru 2nd, 3rd, and into 4th, it runs fine. I just replaced the
original transmission with 330k on it, which began doing the same
thing and then died. The one I just installed came out of a car with
170k on it. Has anyone else experienced this? Can this be caused
from a sensor or trnsmission control unit or does something need
reprogramming? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

transmission control unit. should have check that first.

 

Any flashing lights on the dashboard? Any flashing lights on the transmission
control unit itself when you switch the ignition to on? (I think you'll have to
pull back the carpet under the dash where the passenger's toes would be to see
it.) The number of flashes of that LED tells you where the control unit thinks
the problem is.