First things first the car is a 98' A6 2.8L

THE PROBLEM

So I go to get in my car this morning and when I put it in reverse it like "slammed in" to gear and the same thing happened when I put it in D. Now I thought it was weird so I took it for a spin and the car would not shift out of first gear also the tip did not work either. So, I shut the car down and started it back up and what do ya know it is in LIMP mode the PRND lights up solid and only works in 3rd gear and R... Now keep in mind the last time I drove the car it was extremely smooth shifting through gears and did not shift into gear rough at ALL.

CODES:

My check engine light came on I checked the codes and erased them but P0705 keeps coming back. Now I noticed when I erase the code it goes out of limp mode for 3seconds because the PRND lights are not solid but, then they re-illuminate almost immediately without the car even being turned on.

P0705 -Transmission Range Sensor

SOLUTIONS???

I did some research and found out the location of the TCM is prone to flooding and I have noticed my carpet was a little damp a few weeks ago so today I did a little investigating and pulled out the carpet and the foam was soaked and the was about 1/2 and inch of water all around and the wiring was all wet BUT there was no water in the actual black box that holds the TCM... But because I have not driven the car in over a week I believe there was probably a lot more water under there earlier in the week before I checked and the TCM got soaked and now its toast... Plausible?

So... What do we think should I swap out the TCM or should I just swap the Transmission range sensor???

Sorry for the long post but any help would be much appreciated!!!!

Thanks,
Mike

 

If it was that wet I beleive your tcm is toast! you can pry the tabs back around the edge and open it up the damage is usually very easy to spot. I have bought two cars with this same kind of water damage and had to replace the tcm's in both of them. you will see all types of odd codes pop up when it happens so more than likely your range selector is fine. Does your dash display tell you to push in the clutch before engaging gear? both of mine said this even though they were both automatics lol!

Do a search on ebay using the part number off of your tcm and you should be able to find a used one pretty reasonable I just bought one on there a couple weeks ago for $125

 

Thanks for the input!

Mine only says push the clutch to start only when my TCM is unplugged altogether.

I was thinking the TCM was fried too... I think I can get my hands on a donor one to test in my car later today or tomo....