Sorry for the long post....

i have a 97 A4 1.8 turbo with automatic trans and no quattro. My girlfriend had the car yesterday and reverse quit working.

She took it to on a few errunds and says it was running fine and completely normal. She then went to the grocery store and thats when I got a frantic call from her saying she went to leave the store and the car wouldnt move.

I met her there and got in the car. It started right up with no problems, i put it in reverse.... and she was right.... wasnt moving. I put it in drive and it moved forward just fine. (i had to stop so i wouldnt hit the curb).

So I pushed it backwards out of the parking spot and drove it home. It handled, shifted, and drove normal.... and perfectly, just no reverse.

There are no warning lights on, and the systems check comes back "ok." Something weird that i noticed though.... on the instrument cluster where the trip computer lights up and highlights which gear youre in.... all the gears are high lighted. Theres a solid highlited bar behind P, R, N, D, 3, 2, 1. Also when i put it in reverse.... the shift lock light by the gear shift will come on sometimes like it doesnt know its in reverse.

Any ideas?!? Im stumped! Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank You!

 

If you can get a VAG COM it will tell you what might be going on, it will for sure have a code since all the drive selections are lit up.

 

Agreed. Wouldn't surprise me terribly if it was the TCU. When they go, all kinds of screwy stuff can happen.

 

Thank You for the quick replies!

Couple Questions.

Is there anyone in the Portland, Oregon area with a VAGCOM? And that is willing to let me meet up and scan my car? I'm not made of money.... but could slip you a few bucks.

If it is the TCU.... how expensive is that? And can it be done by myself? I'm somewhat car savvy.

Also... is it going to hurt the car to drive it with this happening? Or is it better to park it and leave it?

Geoff.

 

You can drive it that way - my buddy has the same issues and has driven on a bad TCU for months. If it's the TCU, a new one is horrendous (around $1600). www.shokan.com sells used ones for less than $300 though - you'll need to supply them with the numbers on the casing of yours so they can send you the right one. Peel up the carpet in the passenger footwell - it's in the black box with the cable going into it.

 

$1600?!?!? JESUS!

I've been reading some posts on this site and other sites as well all day today. And have found that a few people were experiencing similar problems with their transmission. Not the exact same thing.... their reverse and 4th gear might work, or the reverse and 1st gear... but they also had all the gear lights lit up like me.

People were telling them to check the TCM under the pass floor board to see if it got wet. And to take it out and dry it off. Do you think that might work?

The night before all this happened my street was pretty flooded and I drove the car through the water and into my driveway. I have a sport suspension on it which of course makes it sit lower so I wonder if that would have done it.

Would I not notice a problem until the next day?

 

It's possible that drying it out may do it. Could also be that water crept into the electrical connections on the transmission itself. As for the cost of one, yeah the new price is enough to make your chest hurt. No reason not to buy one used though - Shokan offers a guarantee on their parts if I recall correctly. Try drying it out, and checking/drying/cleaning any under-car connections as well, and see if that helps first, before spending money.

 

Ok, I'm going to try that as soon as I get home from work today.

Thank You for all the help!

Still looking for anyone in my area (Portland, Oregon) that has a VAG-COM.

 

DAMN! I just thought of another thing. About a week ago my car was leaking oil from the oil cooler... I found out it was the o ring seal... a very easy and CHEAP fix. However to get to it I had to remove the Big plastic debris gaurd or shield or whatever the hell it is that was on the bottom of the car. I decided not to put it back on yet, cause I wanted to let it soak in some degreaser to clean it off.

Do you think that wouldve allowed more water in places its not supposed to be?

 

Yeah i would try checking the connections at that plate maybe, then checking the TCU for water. VAG would be nice cause it would shed some light on that.. there used to be a VAG search engine (searched people in your area willing to let you borrow it), I cant find it right now, does anyone know how to get to it?