I was driving on an open country road today and found out that my 1999 A4 1.8T Quattro wont shift into 5th gear. All the other gears work fine. When I move the stick to the right, it just wont shift into fifth. It almost feels as though its blocked. Any suggestions?

your 5th gear syncro could be completly screwed up to the point where the gear selector can't match up with the gear. Try changing your transmission fluid and see if it helps, it mostly likely wont but it's worth a try with some $5/qt walmart gear oil. if you can select 5th when the car is stoped it could be something else.. in either case a transmission overhaul or replacement is the only solution.

The guys at the tunig place I go to said that it could just be a screwed up short shifter. I have an appointment on the 3rd. I'll keep you posted

I wouldn't listen to anything 1781cc said. Sounds like you have a short shifter, is this correct? If so when was it put in and who did it? Sounds more like a misalligned linkage than blown syncro. Will it shift into 5th when the car is off? Are you pushdown reverse or the other type?

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2000 black 1.8tqm, Revo chip, RS4 grille, ecs RA4 clutch,Forge 007, 21mm rear sway bar, Evo Motor sports Intake, APR Turbo Inlet Pipe, techtonics exhaust, JHM Short Shifter, boxster big brakes, awe boost gauge

N.S.D.A

yeah if you have a short shift it could just be lined up bad and hitting the floor of the car, or those rails that go along the side of it, not sure what their called but my 1st gear was hitting them when i first installedmy shortshifter.

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'99.5 1.8TQM

-scat rods
-20mm pistons
-built head
-20psi
-forge 007p
-FMIC

Thanks guys for your input. I'm glad we're leaning towards a potential short shifter vs transmission problem. Big price difference!! Now, my next question...am I okay to drive it around until my appointment to get it fixed (July 3)? Or, is it easy enough to fix that I can do it myself. I'm not the most mechanically inclined person though.

If you find that it isn't the SS that is causing the problem you will want to check to see if it could be the shift rod bolt, there are 2 bolts that holds the shifter rod inside the transmission. The bolts are located on either side of the tranny, they have a big flat hex head.


Here is what the bolt looks like, I had one snap on me and I ended up losing 1st and 2nd gear.

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