Hi guys,
New owner of a 95 A6 (hence the reason I'm here). Anyway, here's my issue. When I bought the car, I only got one key (which sucks).

First question. Do all of the A6s (of that lineage) have infrared entry? And is there any chance it still works? Should I even try to get it working? I'm pretty sure my key works. I replaced the batteries and when I push the button I see a tiny bit of red light then nothing. (Which makes sense, the LED could shift down to visible red when just being activated). But, since I have no other key, I can't program/sync it to the car. (One key needs to be in the ignition according to the owners manual.) Any advice? Oh, do these keys have chips in them? I got a key copied, and it unlocks the doors fine, but I can't turn it in the ignition. I'm guessing cause it doesn't have a chip that's needed? The IR keys are 168 bucks from the dealer.

Second (and more important question.): When I lock the drivers side door with the key, the rest of the doors should lock. It works fine on the passenger side. However, it does not do this on the drivers side. BUT, unlocking them (two twists), will unlock all of the doors just fine. So, I took the door panel off thinking someone... messed... with it, but everything is fine. The panel has been off before (missing some clips etc.) but all of the wires look in place. So what could it be? And more importantly, how can I fix it? How can I test if it it's just a switch or something? I don't have a bentely for this car yet, but will get one soon.

 

I have a 1997 A6 with the opposite issue...
My key locks and unlocks all the door buttons but after I lock the car and then go to the driver's door and unlock it...I cannot open the door even though the button comes up. The three other doors work just fine, lift the handle and the doors unlatch
Once the doors are unlocked, and I reach the inside drivers door handle from either the back seat or front passenger's seat, I can open the door from the inside, AND I can close it and then open it from the outside with no problem.
Any Ideas?
THanks

 

It could be a bad solenoid in the locking mechanism.

 

First problem sounds like a bad sensor in the lock mechanism of the driver's door. You might try swapping locks from the driver's side to the passenger side.
Second problem sounds like the rod from the door handle to the latch has come loose. They are normally held on with little plastic clips. That should be an easy fix, but, then again, this is an Audi....

 

Thanks bob! I briefly thought about switching the handles on both sides, but I realized that they wouldn't face the right direction. I didn't know you could simply switch the locks. I'll try that this weekend, as it's really annoying to have to walk to the passenger side to get the car to lock.

Oh, BTW, anyone know why I can't find this thread in the forum listing? I can only get to it through my profile??

 

You have to sort the threads by Last Post, Descending. It's down in the lower left of the panel. WE have been complaining but since this is a poorly written board, it has no "notify us of problems" methodology so our complaints have fallen on our own ears.

 

Bob
Thanks for the tip on the rod mechanism
I will take the door apart and look into it!

Paul

 

Think I figured out why it's not workin. I took the lock cylinder out, and it has two wires coming out of it. A grey and a black one. The grey one leads to a three spade connector. If you turn the key one way, the middle and (let's call it) right connector are connected. By process of elimination you'd think the middle and left connector would be connected when you turn it the other way? Well, they aren't. And I think that's where my problem stems from.

 

So the sensors are built into the lock cylinder? Any way to take it apart and clean up the contacts on the sensor or are you in for a new lock cylinder?

 

Eh, not exactly. I'll post pics later today. Basically there is this little plastic case that clips on to one side of the lock cylinder. The cylinder itself acts like a gear, and turns a gear in this plastic case. That gear has protrusions that push a button when it is turned one way or the the other. The button's gotta only be a mm or two big. I COULD try to take it off and clean it, but I'm sure I'd break the plastic clips that hold it on to the lock cylinder itself. I'm going to try to call a junk yard and see if they have any audis from that generation (as I'm sure the door hardware would be very similar.)

Hm, I'm in luck. Seems they have a 95 A6 with "bad" doors on it that I can go through. (They don't let you rip into "good" doors) Well, I'll be back and let you know how it goes.