I searched and found out that someone (who had a 97 A4) had a similar problem.

The problem is is that the dashboard diplay, where it shows the gears, are all lit up and inverted. You cant tell which gear you are in by looking at the dashboard. I searched and found BRRRMAN say this

My car runs but very weird. (99 A4 tiptronic by the way). When i put it into drive (from 0 KMS), it will drive but will rev all the way to 2900 RPM before shifting (around 20 KMS)...you can hear that and feel it. You think that the car is in neutral untill you it shifts at 2900 RPM. My car would only take that long to shift on COLD days in the winter here in TORONTO.

Also now when I stop the car and put it in to REVERSE or DRIVE positions the car "jumps". The RPM's drop to around 500 and then go back to its normal postion of around 650. Timing belt and Water pump were replaced this year. Oil changes done on a regular, except last one which is scheduled to be done by AUDI on monday. I will have them look at it but I was wondering if anyone knew what my problem might be and how much it might cost me.

Thanks guys REALLY NEED YOUR HELP ON THIS ONE. Dont want to get ripped off.

 

If you have a vagcom, see if there are any fault codes. Find someone in TO who can pull the codes for you.

Sounds like transmission problems rather than engine, although the normal idle speed should be 800, not 650. could be as simple as a seal causing fluid to leak out resulting in lack of transmission fluid. Have you ever checked the level or had the fluid changed? Could be more serious. Any problems before the transmission went into limp mode? Were you pushing the car past its limits just before this happened, or did it happen out of the blue?

 

F*/K !!!!!!
no never had any transmission problems before. Had some oil leak that audi fixed when I did my timing belt. Never checked the fluid level before, DIDNT KNOW HOW? I asked AUDI before to do a transmission oil change/replace whatever they call it, they said that its a "sealed unit" and doesnt need to be replaced. I was not pushing the car past its limits. I just got out of my driveway and started driving. I noticed that the past week or so, when I would go from P (park) to D (drive) the light on the dashboard would not light up to invert the D. Thats about it.
So is it something serious? Probably.

 

Anyway went to audi. Got the Oil change done while i was there = $100 CAD....got the inside passenger door lock mechanism done =$100 CAD. Also this stupid inverted gear selector switch thing cost me $850 CAD. OUCH!!! i know i got ripped, but what can i do. total of = $1050 ...This has got me thinking about the car and how much its costing me....

 

We all want to know what the problem was with the transmission.

Yes it is a sealed unit and there is not dipstick.
It has to be checked from underneath and is a somewhat involved procedure which I wont go into now.

Yes it is lifetime fluid....it lasts the lifetime of the transmission which will be shorter if it isn't changed every once in a while.

Be happy that they were CAD not USD

 

true david you are right.

The problem was "gear selector switch". So they fixed that. Car's RPM's seem to be around 700 now, higher than previous. Anyway at least they gave me a through diagnosis. Found out i have 2 more problems:

1. Left front tie-rod (quoted me $450)
2. Front brakes and rotors (quoted me $450)

So i guess that was wha the "KHISSSH" noise i was experiencing a while back. It was the front left tie-rod end.

Anyway, anyone know of a place that I can ge the Tie-rod end for cheap price?

 

Lucky it was only the gear selector switch, not the transmission, so you actually lucked out.

link

Try here for tie rod ends and brakes.

Find a good VW shop in the area rather than the dealer. You will find it a lot cheaper