Hello all,

Im having trouble with my 1999 A6Q Avant, I have the 2.8l engine.

After spending more than 6 hours researching, i have not only educated myself but still havent solved my problem. Any help or advice would be greatly appriciated.

I had no warning, I just went to start my car last week and it wouldnt start. Once the key was inserted and turned, the dash lights were significantly dimmer than usual and the car would make a sound like it was trying to turnover for a second then just click. On subsequent attempts the dash lights were sometimes brighter and sometimes when the dash lights were at their dimmest a message would come up saying "engage clutch to start car" or something along those lines. (my car is an auto/tip). The head lights dont come on and the voltage gauge on the dash reads about 10v.

I removed the battery from the car as the first step in trouble shooting and my multimeter read about 12v. I suspected maybe although the voltage was okish, perhaps the cold cranking amps were not high enough. I then attepmted to jump start the car but it would not start... i left the car for a few minutes then tried again...same result, it would try and turn over for a second then click multiple times. While trying to jump the car the gauge volt meter read more than 12v and my multimeter read 14.4 at the battery.

So from what i have read i suspect the starter solinoid but im still puzzled regarding the lower voltage in the car and the strange behavior of the dash lights etc... Would the ignition switch also be causing me issues?

Any tips would be greatly appriciated.

Bevan

 

First things first...get the battery tested. They do it for free and recharge it at the same time. Then give it a try in your car( if you find that it wasn't the problem).

Once you do that, post up again and we can get to the harder stuff.

Oh yes, and if you engine turns over then the solenoid is working. The purpose of the solenoid is to engage the starter gear with the flywheel. When it doesn't work then you hear a whirring noise without the engine turning over.

 

Is your battery warninglight on (the voltage meter with read 10 volts or under and the red round warning light should be on)?If so, 99% of the time it's the alternator. It cost me around $500 to have an Audi shop replace the alternator- I have heard two ways to replace- 1) Replace in the Service position- similar procedure as timing belt but the front end does not come completely off or 2) if you are skilled with Audi's the alt can be removed from underneath. I didn't have the time because I needed my car back in two days before the weekend.

 

Please forgive me, im new to all of this, so my questions are just as much for me to learn as to fix my car.

I was under the impression that by jump starting my car with another running car, that the battery would be taken out of the equation as the charge would be drawn from the other car. I will still take my battery into Autozone in the morning and get them to test it. Im just trying to understand all the processes here.

The sound im hearing just before the clicking, is that the engine "turning over"? its the sound that it would usually make before it starts... I only hear it for maybe half a second every 5 or 6 times i try to start the engine.

Thanks, Bevan

 

The flaw here though is he can't even start the car. A bad alternator won't keep your car from starting. That and always check the cheap things first. Its when your voltage is below 13 while the car is running that you know the alternator is bad.

 

When you jump a car, you don't get the complete amperage from the battery actually being in the car unless you have really high quality jumper cables. You actually depend on charging the battery already in your car and using that charge to start the car.

 

Thanks for your reply,

The red circle "generator" light comes on, however so do most of the others when the display is dimmed, on the odd occasion that all the dash lights come on as normal, the battery symbol in the center of the display (the rectangle shaped display) does not come on.

Also in case i wasnt clear before, the car is not running, i can't get it to start.

Thanks, Bevan

 

At this point the computer is going to be fairly confused due to the intermittant power supply to it. The one to pay attentino to is the voltage meter. Just be sure to get the battery checked before you start getting major work with the alternator involved.

 

Thankyou for your help. I will have the battery tested tomorrow and come back here and hopefully gain some more advice if the battery turns out to be ok.

Bevan

 

When my battery went all the lights on the dash came on- so I will bet it is your battery-