My 03 4.0 Liter 4x4 Ranger doesnt want to shift out of first gear until I move it to Neutral and give it some gas then throw it back down into Drive. Hopefully this isnt a major issue with the transmission. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

2003 Ranger 4.0l will have a 5R55E automatic

Try looking for similar symptoms with that model number, 5R44E and 4R55E/4R44E are similar so same symptoms would apply

The 5R transmissions don't have a "2nd gear", when starting off in 1st the computer turns on OD(overdrive) while still in 1st for a faux 2nd gear, then it shifts to 3rd

So does your OD seem to work OK?