Auto kicks into 2nd when in L.

The problem may surface when climbing a rough hill in L. You can confirm by checking if the lever is in 2 when you really started off in L.

Firstly check that the lever does in fact shift smoothly and accurately to each range and that the position indicator correctly indicates the position.

Since this problem may be an alignment problem, adjust as follows:

1. Loosen the control rod nut on the transmission.
2. Push the control shaft lever all the way to the rear of the vehicle.
3. Return the control lever two notches to the N.
4. Set the shift lever to the N range.
5. Hold the shift lever lightly toward the R range side and tighten the control rod nut. You may need to experiment with how lightly to hold the lever toward R since you are looking for some space for the transmission to move when in L without having it knocked back into 2.
6. Check that the vehicle goes forward when going from N to D and reverse when going from N to R.