Hi everyone, My name is Scott and I just became a member of your Audi forum and wondered if you could help me out. About a month ago I purchased a 1996 Audi A6 Quattro Avant with 147,500 miles. It has been well taken care of and I have the service history since the original warranty expired.
Yesterday it was 3 degrees outside and she started right and up like usual, but when I put it in 'D' and gave it some gas it wouldn't move. I revved it up a couple times and then the tachometer stayed at just over 4000rpm even with my foot off the gas. I put it in 'N" which didn't help (Still the same) and put it back in 'D' and heard a loud 'clunk' noise and it died.
I started it back up and the rpms returned to normal and I tried to move in 'D' only to find out that I couldn't until the rpm's reached 3200. During this time, I had noticed that the gear selection on the dash was sometimes all red.
First gear worked fine so I used that to get back in my parking spot. Now I'm freaking out because I'm unemployed and just spent what little money I had to get the title and plates transferred a few days ago. Hopefully, it's not too bad, but if anyone could offer any advice/solutions, I would appreciate it. Thanks!

UPDATE: I went to AutoZone to get them to scan my OBDII and it couldn't fit because of the surrounding plastic that the plug is mounted in. When I drove back home, even though my car was in '1' it still changed gears when the rpms got high enough. Please help!

 

That loud clunking sound is a sign of damaged transmission.

 

I figured that, but I'm trying to find out why. It's odd that it would happen out of nowhere. I drove it earlier the same day and had no issues as usual. I've read other post that talk about something getting covered by a leaf and having similar problems. I'm wondering if the temperature had anything to do with it. Thanks for your input.