My 99 A4 quattro 2.8 V6 just died. Transmission problem. I have a 5 speed manual transmission. Wouldn't go into reverse. Got it into first and took off. Tried to go from 4th into 5th and it wouldn't. Went back to 4th and when I tried going into 5th it went into limbo mode and was permanently neutral. Had to get towed home. Shifter just moves around full circle now. Car runs fine. Any ideas on what it is? And how can I check it without going to a shop? I need to know where to look to figure out the problem so I can fix it asap and sell my car in 3 days. I need the cash and my wife is 8 months pregnant and we have no car now. Any help!

 

So you can move the shift **** around its entire radius with no touching of any part of the transmission?

I'm not sure what part broke, but it sounds like something came full apart inside there. I hope I'm wrong for your sake but I doubt you'll be fixing this for cheap.