kinderutz

she's waiting for me in the(new to us) 96 A6 quattro and i notice the brake lights are on.....she said she can't get it into park.....i say try again....loud grinding noise is heard(starter like), i say put it in neutral and the same thing happened,scared the crap out of me.....in drive the car is fine(she drove it like that for a couple of miles).....anyway, i shut the car off in drive, shift it to park and start it up again....works fine...take it for a spin around the block...no problems whatsoever.
What can it be?....i ask her when did it happened and describe me how/what did you do that might have caused it.....she sais "i came out of CVS, put it in reverse to back up,started grinding but was able to back up, put it in drive and drove home normally, home i tried putting it in park and it would grind...... oh and sometimes the turn signals don't work.
DING!
ignition switch!
the key must have stayed in the start position(God knows how)and the starter was grinding in park and neutral(God knows how).
First thing tomorow,ignition switch.(Also gotta do 2 CV boots and a thermostat).
Any other thougts?
p.s.-the bumper is fixed

<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/92966/d72c_12.jpg">

austinado16

Make sure to only buy a factory "Audi" one. Anything else, and you'll just be replacing it again in a couple months.

kinderutz

i get to buy stuff but it has to be cash and they charge me NJ tax.....still cheaper then anything else on some items....$5 an oil filter, $10 an air filter, $14 a fuel filter(all Mann)i just bought one ignition switch for my UrS6 not too long ago $20(black,made in Germany).
I'm going to do a t-stat(stuck open) and CV boots as well(both torn).....also hook the car up to our machine to see what the readyness monitors are saying, need to inspect it asap, maybe align it if i have time.

EDIGREG

When I ran the carfax for my S4, "ignition switch" showed up under the recalls. I'd imagine that's for all C4s, not just S4s...

islingtonaudi

Those switches wreak havoc! I've replace 2 in a year or so. Used a real dealer switch 2nd time.

ivonius4.2

I am the only owner (bought new 11 yrs ago). From time to time, first incident while still under warranty, about 40,000 mi, and about once per year after that, it would do that grinding thing when you placed it in gear. While in this state the turn signals, nor power windows, and who knows what else do not work. The fix is always to turn it off then start it again, like rebooting it. I do believe it is a software thing. Dealer never found anything, it has not happened in the past two years (now 135,000 miles). --never threw any codes (--have my own vag-com), and never any after-effects. Just scary and very noisy whenever it happened. It did sound like the starter grinding against the ring gear, but why only when in "D" or "R"? For those who would suggest the ignition switch...I am still on the original switch, yet the issue has not happened in the past year or two. Self-healing? --go figure.

The_Hamster

The Starter was grinding in park and neutral because in any other position the starter is cut off from power. So with the key stuck in 'start', it would crank in park/neutral but once you pull it out of that gear it would cut the starters power.

kinderutz

neutral safety switch? with the car running ?hmmm...