Ok, so a new chapter in getting this A4 back on her feet.

It would not crank so I checked all the usual suspects. I was able to disconnect the starter solenoid wire and apply positive voltage to the starter solenoid to crank her over and she started fine.

I replaced the starter solenoid relay without any change.
I hooked up vag-com and found no helpfull details.

Here is where it got interesting/bad. I asked my wife to turn the ignition while I used the voltmeter under the car to see if the solenoid was being sent 12 volts. First try, nothing. Second try nothing. Third try, smoke from the under dash relay and I sent her in to grab a fire extinguisher while i pulled all suspect relays quickly. Thankfully no full on fire, however the neutral/park relay was smoking hot and one leg partially melted. Looks like the socket is still usable.

Now, why did this happen? Bad neutral/park sensor in the shifter mechanism? If so, how do I get access to it? It explains why it would not crank over if it did not think it was in park/neutral.

It is worth noting that when I checked the transmission module with vag-com it showed that the selector lever was in the correct position as I ran it through the gears.

Update: Neutral Safety switch would be the multi function switch? If so I have a spare one of those, but the question remains. Why the melted neutral/park relay?

 

It's possible that the starter solenoid itself (on the starter) is shorted and drawing enough current to melt the relay.