Where is the starter located in a 2000 Audi A4 1.8T Quattro? I turn the key and nothing happens but I still have headlights and dash lights and over 12vs could it be the starter?

 

read the voltage at the battery when you turn the key to start. if it doesnt change it could either be the starter relay or starter solenoid, or maybe a bad ignition switch. if there is a large drop in voltage (below 10v) it could be a dead cell in the battery, or the starter is stuck/ceased and not engaging into the flywheel.

its located near where the engine meets the transmission. kind of hard to see from the top. just follow the very large gauge red wire from your battery down behind the engine.

 

Yup, its tucked by the a/c unit. I know if you look it up you can also bypass the relays/solenoid with either a wire touching the poles or a screw driver. Ive done it on other starters but im not sure how this one is set up. GL!

 

I did end up getting it started after 5 to 6 tries it finally started and has been starting every time now i turn the key. Could this be a sign of the starter on its way out or could it just have been stuck?

 

bump. could someone help out with this topic? I'm having the same issue with my 2000 a4 1.8T. The car will start intermittently and it runs fine once the car has started, but ocassionaly it wont start at all, (no clicking noise, no turn over, nothing, the stereo and all the electricity works when the key is turned but no start). Half the time it starts fine and no other problems. I'm thinking this is the starter, but will the starter work like this (cut in and out) or is it more likely to be a bad wire somwhere around the starter? Thanks a lot.

 

I've heard possibly the starter relay is bad, does this sound right to you guys? Anyone know a price range on a new relay?? I was planning on installing my test pipe tonight, but I want to get this issue figured out before I go and mess with that. Thanks in advance for the help

 

could be a faulty ignition switch, starter relay, or half broken solenoid trigger wire. you need to figure out how to replicate the problem or look at the entire system until you see something wrong. just 'random intermittent' is hard to pinpoint, there has to be a type of situation where it does it all the time and another where the car always runs fine.

 

haha believe me I would love to replicate the conditions that make it start. I'm at work trying to get this car over to an advance auto parts so they can run a diagnostic and check the batt/alternator/starter. I just tried putting it in gear and pushing it around (to try and move the starter to see if it will start in a certain position.. does this work?) are there any other things you guys can recomend trying? I heard tapping the starter with a hammer might work too, where is the starter? can I do this without jacking up the car? Any other tips at all would be helpful to get this thing started again.. thanks

 

So I got my car started again.. I have no idea why it started. I was trying it for a little while nothing was happening again then I attempted to try and find the starter to tap it with the hammer while my friend tried started it. I don't think I was hitting the starter ( I believe it was the a/c) but I hit it a couple times and my friend tried to start it. The first time he tried to start it, the engine cranked for a fraction of a second and stoped. He tried again and it fired up. It has started 4 or 5 times since then. Any thoughts?

 

Sounds like starter is on the way out.
Its under the engine, behind the ac compressor. You can loosen the bracket that holds the compressor on, and swing it out of the way to get enough room to work.

What you want to do to test it, is jack up the car, and get a voltmeter on the starter terminals, and have someone crank the engine over. if your getting 12 volts here to the starter everytime, then this would be proof that the battery system is good (and relay) but the starter itself is having a problem. it's not real easy to get to, but it is reachable, i did this to test mine a while back before replacing my starter.