a few weeks ago while it was extra cold out, i drove in 1st gear. trying to run high rpm's and warm up the engine faster. when i got to about 40ish mph, the tranny made a fairly loud bang. when it made the sound it also went into neutral, freely reving the engine. gear selector still in 1st gear.

when i moved the gear shift into drive, power went back to the wheels and the trans shifted perfect. i've not had any other problems with the trans, but it was a fairly scary incedent.

is that a safty feature of the trans or something i should be concerned with?

 

One time event, don't worry about it.

But don't leave it in first to warm it up.....that is a bad strategy. Let the transmission shift when it wants to shift.

Leave it in D and drive it conservatively until it is warmed up.

 

What he said. Just drive it normally. THese things warm up very quickly if they are running properly.

For God's sake don't rev a cold engine. Sheesh.