A little history first.

I have a 1997 Audi A6 Quatrro with approximately 118k miles. I recently had the timing belt and water pump replaced and a new battery in the fall 2004, tune-up, brake/transmission fluid change in early 2005, throttle body cleaned in early 2005 and oil change approx 3 months ago.

In the fall 2004, I pulled to a stop sign and the Audi shut-off. I started it back and drove back home, luckily I was only a mile or so from home. Long story short, Audi dealer said I needed the 90K mile service checkup, new battery, and suggested I have the timing belt changed. I did the new battery and timing belt. I didn't buy the battery from Audi, but I did get the vented battery and 700 cranking amps as the car needed and Audi then supposedly did a "battery reboot".

But the Audi had been "jumping" when tranferring from around 1st to 2nd gear and from 2nd to 1st gear, but no so bad in the others. One guy ran a code which said "short to B+". Does anyone know what these means? Have any of you ran into this transmission shifting problem? A guy who works on my car had been an Audi trained mechanic for 30 years and said he didn't know what was wrong but that it wouldn't hurt anything.

Now, less than 3 months after an oil change and while driving to work, my oil pressure light comes on and I pull over and have it towed to the shop. He said it had very little oil in it, which blew my mind as I don't see how I drove out all of the oil in around 4,000 miles or so. Does this sound weird or something normal?

And, he also said a code showed a piston misfired. So, I drove the car home yesterday (he reset the codes and did a oil change) and everything seemed fine. This morning, I turned the key and the engine acted like it was spitting or sputtering and then it would not stay on. When you turn the key it will try to start but won't. Oh, the iginition switch was changed about 2 months ago as well. Any idea why a piston would misfire?

Sorry for such a long email, but I am just frustrated. I have heard that Audi engines and transmissions are the best, but I don't know if I just got a lemon or what.

Thanks,
Chad in SC

Hi there,

I recently bought a 97 A6 Quattro. My older car (Plymouth Laser 1990) broke down just 2 days before I picked the A6. My car (Laser) used to do that at the end, with the engine shutting off when cold, and at the end it shut off on me a few hundred yard away from my house. Now it won't start no matter what I do. I got it checked and it turns out my fuel pump is broken. Part of your problem may be that or bad connection to yourr fuel pump. Also you may have a loose connection somewhere where things get shorted or disconnected. I'd check for loose connection definitely, especially arround the battery to make sure everything is good with the connections.

Hope this helps.

Good luck with the car

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I agree it sounds electrial, Check all of your battery wiring (esp ground) and see if they all check out. Electrical will usually act better in the cold but can be opposite too. But it is usually temp dependent (Wires have more resistance with temp change and if there is a resistance problem (ie corrosion), it intensifies with change in temp.) Your fuel pump, oil pump, and computer all being on the electrical, share this common factor ( oh yeah starters, battery seeming bad when brand new, and your ignition are all electrical too). Electrical can be a pain to track down though. Start at your battery cables with a good volt meter. You have ~5 feet of positive and negative cable with the battery being under your back seat (in the 97)

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