A4 problem: won't lock into gears
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Registered User
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 570
From: Sarasota, FL
A4 problem: won't lock into gears
i came home from work today and when i put the car in park, the car was in reverse. 
i pulled the shifter all the way down to check the gears and it locks into 1-4, but when i push it up into neutral, reverse, and park it just slides very easily and won't lock into the right spot. it seems like all the gears are higher (on the shifter) than they should be like something got shifted forward. the only way i can park the car is to put it all the way up in Park w/ the e-brake pulled, which it still wants to reverse. i got out of the car to see if the reverse lights are on and they're not. any help on this would be appreciated.
i pulled the shifter all the way down to check the gears and it locks into 1-4, but when i push it up into neutral, reverse, and park it just slides very easily and won't lock into the right spot. it seems like all the gears are higher (on the shifter) than they should be like something got shifted forward. the only way i can park the car is to put it all the way up in Park w/ the e-brake pulled, which it still wants to reverse. i got out of the car to see if the reverse lights are on and they're not. any help on this would be appreciated.
Registered User
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 1,550
From: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Re: A4 problem: won't lock into gears
Sounds like a problem with your linkage. Get under the car and check out the cable that goes down to the drivers side of the tranny. I had the same problem because the little stop that holds the outside of the cable(so the inside of the cable can slide back and forth to shift the gears) slid out of place and just allowed the whole assembly to move back and forth. So there was too much slack on the cable to get the correct gears. I actually took 2 plastic fork peices and wedged them into the plastic push clamps to keep them from doing it again. Been working great for 2 years +.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 570
From: Sarasota, FL
Re: A4 problem: won't lock into gears
i took it into a transmission shop today and got it fixed. they said a bolt was missing and all the other bolts were loose. i'm guessing it was something to do w/ the linkage, but he didn't tell me exactly what it was. they replaced the missing bolt and tighted the others and now the shifter feels tighter. i have to really push in the button to move it.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,308
From: Oshawa - Home of the 5th-gen
Re: A4 problem: won't lock into gears
The EXACT same thing happened on my friend's '96 T/A. He couldn't get it into park. Brought it to my house, we put it up on ramps, and sure enough the bracket that holds the shifter cable to the tranny was loose (there should be 2 bolts, but 1 was loose and the other one was missing!
). I replaced the missing bolt, tightened ALL the other ones, and the shifter worked perfect again
. I've heard of this happening to a few other guys too.
). I replaced the missing bolt, tightened ALL the other ones, and the shifter worked perfect again. I've heard of this happening to a few other guys too.
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