groovetek

Hey guys... I was involved in an accident with the gutter a few months ago... comprehensive insurance screwed me around for 10 weeks... got the car back, and heap of problems, and yeah so I wasn't happy at all.

Fortunately, I have managed to hassle the insurance company to rectify all the issues (dead MAF??? ABS, lambda sensors, air conditioning, some vag com error codes).

UNFORTUNATELY, there is one more issue that the mechanic I took the car to couldn't diagnose.

That was the faulty tiptronic... for some reason the dash doesn't indicate tiptronic mode, and thus doesn't engage tiptronic at all... however the + & - lights on the shifter housing do light up.

The Audi mechanic I took it to (a specialist, but not an actual Audi center), had spent hours trying to figure it out, but they've told me the shifter itself is working fine - that the vagcom is detecting the inputs from the tiptronic shifter... but the dash cluster might be the culprit...

Obviously I'm pretty angry, cos insurance is claiming it's something totally unrelated ot the accident, but it was working before the incident!

Anyway, does any Audi-expert here know what could be the problem? Let me know, cheers...

mattarios2

I have an extra if you need one. When you move the shifter over to the right, a magnet is touched which engages tip mode. I beleive my dealership wanted 30 bucks for it. I went to a junk yard and pulled one for 5 bucks, hope this helps.

Good Luck

jguthrie

It's a cheap fix, so I guess its worth a try, but it sounds like his mechanic has at least half a clue. Being that bad magnets is so common, I would think that the mechanic would know how to diagnose that.

Kris Hansen

Did they change or check the multi function switch on the transmission?

Vic995

Also, the head lights need to be on for a valid test.

groovetek

my steering wheel doesn't have any lights or indicators on it...

um basically the dash doesn't acknowledge when it's moved to tiptronic mode...

the + & - on the shifter housing itself next to the shifter gearstick do light up however...

groovetek

hmmm... straight after the accident, i had used my scanner device and it said the multifunction switch PRND4321 whatever thing had an error...

all the PRND432 were lit up on the dash in red, which isn't right...

to my shock and disbelief, when i first got the car back it was like that still!

so i took out the batery, let it reset, and now the PRND432 is working correctly, the error code has gone, but yes, the tiptronic issue is still there...

thanks for the question though, it seems tat it would be possible that the multfunction switch is still partly faulty?

groovetek

but then he checked it out and said that's definitely not the issue, and that he reckons it's something to do with the dash cluster or watever... cos the transmission and shifter itself is working corectly...

Kris Hansen

Yes, the multifunction switch can cause problems like you describe from what I have heard.

groovetek

ok i called the place today - he said yes he's checked it out, and that vagcom knows what he's doing with the shifter, so the multifunction switch shouldn't be the problem...

he says somewhere between the transmission and the computer there's something wrong, or the computer itself has a problem...

either way... hope i get this fixed up soon...

if anybody else has any clue as to what the problem might be, please contribute to this discussion to help a newbie like me out! =)