Alright, so I have an 99 A4 2.8 that i've owned for probably 2 years now and up until this point never once had a problem. Last week the windshield wiper motor went on me and i had it replaced by an old friend thats been working on my cars ever since we've been in high school together, and never had any trouble with his work. I got my car back today after the wiper motor was put back in and now it seems like when i let off the gas in 1st gear it almost feels like the car's trying to stop or brake. Also when i go to put the car into Reverse it bucks pretty hard which it also never did before.

Now something else that may also be related was that i had the battery changed out during the same time period since it was just about due for it anyways and was on its last life. Since i changed it the lights on the dash that tell me what gear im in are all lit up in red which never happened before. Any idea what i might have to do or whats wrong?

 

if all the lights are on for the gear selecting thingy, it means your in tranny limp mode usually. you need a vag com to check for fault codes. it's normal when it feels like the car is braking when you let off the gas in first gear. the engine is down revving. but it's not supposed to buck when you put it into reverse. you might need a tranny flush

 

Yeah see its never had that issue before, referring to the braking feeling. It just feels like its bogging down a little. I may have to try the tranny flush idea though, not familiar with vag com actually.

 

If he disconnected the battery maybe you gotta reset the EFIS by turning the key on without startin the car until it cycles.

 

Going to try this now, hopefully it works. Not familiar with EFIS, but i know the problem on the dash not recognizing the gear was definately related to the battery being pulled.

 

What bob was talking about is doing a throttle body alignment. Your car is most likely drive-by-wire (DBW), which means that instead of a throttle cable that mechanically links the gas pedal to the throttle body, you have a potentiometer there. As you hit the gas, the voltage at the pedal changes, which in turn drives a servo that rotates the throttle open. It's common to have to do a TBA after disconnecting the battery. If you open the hood, then put the key in and turn it to full electrical power, you'll probably hear a light whine from the back center of the engine bay - that's the TB doing its alignment. When it stops the whine noise, the alignment is complete.

 

Spot on, thanks. Just got back from trying this and everything is running beautifully. Thanks for your help.

 

Glad it worked - anytime you disconnect the battery, doing the TBA is a good idea, just to be sure.