Hi I am new to the Audi forums and I have a problem with my 99 A6 avant 2.8 auto, that perhaps some of you more experienced Audi owners can help me with? Yesterday my power steering was acting up, upon inspection I found that I was very low on fluid. I have since filled the tank with Audi approved mineral based fluid. However now my transmission will not shift into first gear and all of the gear indicator lights are on. I have searched the forums for answers and what I have come away with is that the "all gear lights on" means your tranny is toast. Or I need some kind of car reading tool to diagnose what is wrong? Is there anyway to simply reset the computer on the car and see if it is just an electrical gremlin? If I dissconnect the battery terminals is that enough to reset the computer? I live in Utah and it hasn't been over 20 degrees for 2 weeks could the cold be the problem? Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks for your time
Quinn

 

I had the same problem a while back with my wife's Quattro. When the condition you described happens it's called "limp mode". IF the onboard computer detects a fault of what it thinks is of serious importance, the computer will place the transmission into limp mode to protect the transmission. There could be a variety of issues causing the ECU to place the transmission into limp mode. In my case, my Mass Air Flow Sensor (MAF) was bad. I replaced it and the problem has never come back, transmission works great and car runs like new. However, your problem could also be a bad ECU or other things related to the transmission. The best thing to do is find someone that can read engine codes using a VAG COM. My buddy has one and it told him that my MAF was bad and in fact it was. I know Autozone will read codes for free but they don't use a VAG COM so I don't know if will pinpoint the cause of the fault.

Good luck!!