sauer99

Driving home from work today, noticed the transmission was sluggish from the light. After manually shifting the auto transmission lever, I discovered the tranny was stuck in second gear. I can get it to shift into first by manually putting the shift lever into first, then move the selector to second for a hard shift, however it will not get into third or beyond. I stop at the store on the way home, and the car then would not start. Additionally, all the dash gauges quit working on the way home too, so it may be related.

My guess it there is a sensor on the shift lever that is "stuck" telling the car the lever is in second, causing the tranny to stay there and not allowing the car to start, as it thinks the tranny is in gear and not in park.

Thoughts / ideas on the problem greatly appreciated. And yes, stupid me for stopping at the store and getting stuck when I knew the car was having issues. The beer was too tempting. Thanks in advance for any advice.

maineman

What does the gear indicator in the cluster read? Does it say it's in park or another gear.
There's quite a bit of info for checking the tranny on the web as this is a common problem for these cars.Since you say you could manual shift through the gears you may be able to eliminate the shift cable.A little history of your car (mileage?Does it have the sport button?When was the last time you changed the tranny fluid and filter?) would help us help you .
good luck

sauer99

The car has 179,000 miles on it. It does have the sport button, however the light on it went out at the same time all the instrument clusters quit working. The tranny fluid has not been changed in 10-12 years, however it still has a good color and no burned smell. The indicator on the dash does not work (same time as instrument cluster) so I can't say where it thinks the shifter is.

I don't belive the problem is the linkage. It seems to me to be a sensor of some kind.

Thanks for the help!

maineman

when was the ignition switch last changed?There are people on this forum smarter than me but that ignition switch lends itself to a lot of electrical gremlins especially dash lights.

Have you run codes to see what comes up if anything?
Checked your fuses?

Worth reading .......
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho....php?t=2111433

Also fluids should be changed at no more than 30K along with filter.

Run the codes first,do you have a check engine light when the key is in the on position?