Recently purchased a 1999 A4 Quattro with 159,000. Had a little trouble finding reverse at first, but now I'm having trouble shifting from 1st to 2nd and so on. Is this more likely a clutch issue?

 

How do the clutch pedal and shifter feel when you try to shift?

Any grinding, slipping, burning smell, or just a bad linkage feel?

Try shifting into reverse, then into 1st (while stopped). See what happens.

 

Started engine, had trouble shifting into reverse, but no trouble shifting from reverse to 1st. Clutch engages when pedal is about 3/4s up. cannot feel any slipping. Sometimes when I come to a stop it will not shift into 1st. If I switch the engine off, then restart it, I can easily find 1st.

 

I've never messed with our B5s, but that sounds very much like a shifter linkage problem, which (if I'm correct) would be good news, because it would be an adjustment issue and not a "spend money" issue.

This might help: Adjusting shift linkage ... - AudiWorld Forums

Google comes up with a lot of results for this issue.

G/L

 

Thanks A4TurboGuy!

 

My pleasure.

G/L w/everything!