Hello Everyone What's going on ? Just brought my 98 A4 quattro Home after fixing the head , tensioner , oil pump and all that jazz got a good deal on it and well worth it Love the car already! . Today i came by a 98 A6 2.8l AT CJE trans I beleive, to buy and it's having a starting problem, cranks a few times and doesn't start I've had it on a lift and It cranks over a few times and then the starter spins free almost as if it's slipping off the flexplate .
When cranking the Flexplate does seem a bit warped not true from underneath. I've checked the cranked sensor hole and It looks as if the flexplate is almost set back to far for the sensor to get a good reading to fire. I've swapped out starters already with a new one and it still has the same issue . Checked with the dealer and it's got the correct trasmission in the vehicle. So I'm just checking with you experts if There are some known issues with this model, can you install the trans wrong and have this problem or is it something else. Any insight would be appreciated Thanks.

 

If it sounds like and is cranking the engine over and then the engine stops cranking and you hear the starter go into a high pitch zing/over rev type noise, then it's probably the starter drive that is bad. Since that isn't available separately you can only get the reman starter. The Audi OEM reman unit it is 183.75 plus a core charge, plus shipping. It's 3-4 working days to order in before we could ship it to you.

The starter drive is a one way clutch so to speak. If it gets weak the rollers inside can't apply rotational force needed to crank your engine over. When those rollers free spin then so does the electric armature inside the starter motor and that's when you hear the rpm's spin very high very quickly.

 

Thanks for the reply Jeff! That helps alot . But the only problem is I already swapped out the starter with a reman from carquest and it still had the same issue. Fortunately i have good friends that manage two parts stores and was able to return it . Are these audi's sensative to dealer parts only and should I try one of there's ? Or is it in the engine design to only crank a few times and if it doesn't fire the starter clutch gives. Can these cars be cranked over and over until you drain the battery Like most cars? I've done a couple of these transmissions on the ground already and theyare not fun for sure almost as bad as an older taurus so i would definately like to avoid that . I'm going to look it ove again to see if ther is anything that I might of missed this weekend . Thanks again.

 

You can crank for days if the battery will let you. Maybe taking a closer look at that flex plate like you thought is the next step?

 

Finally after some research from All-Data and then some comparissons with another car I've found that there is actually a spacer that goes between the end of the crankshaft and the flexplate . WoW! So when checking this I was supposed to have a measurement of .713" -.776" when you measure from the back of the engine block to the front of the flexplate . Somebody had done an engine swap and put some wrong shims in this car unfortunantely . Well guess I'm pulling a transmission now to correct this . Thanks for the help Jeff .