Lupis52

I have a 97 A4 Quattro Manual.

I bought it with about 85k miles on it and the cruise control has never worked (its at close to a 100k now). I never investigated it too much until recently. I have always been able to start the car with out depressing the clutch. It wasn't until recently that I started wondering if this is why my cruise control will never engage b/c the car thinks that the clutch is always depressed. Does this theory sound correct?

I don't think that the sensor is broken as I from reading posts it seems that if the sensor breaks it defaults to thinking that the clutch is never depressed and not allowing you to start the car, so in my case its probably being shorted out. To my knowledge the previous owner did not have any sort of remote start system installed or anything else that would warrant shorting the clutch sensor.

One more unrelated question. I noticed recently that the dash seems to be bulging just slightly in the middle in two places. Almost like slight warping from the sun. Ever since I noticed that I have been using a sunshade religiously just incase. Does this sound like something that the sun would cause and how much would it cost to fix or replace the dash.

Thanks much!!

JAFO

your cc problem is most likely the buttons on the stalk.

Lupis52

What might the interlock be?

ecgarzone

CC works off vacuum. Look for leaks or broken hoses, especially the smaller fabric covered ones. I had one instance where one of the evap. cannister valves had deteriorated so badly that it had two holes in the plastic, and the only noticeable affect was the CC would not work. Replaced the check valve and all was well. Car also ran better. Let us know what you find.

JAFO

you don't need to push in the clutch to start the car on a 97.

Barnstormer

the contact cleaner spray from Radio Shack fixed mine right up...