i have a 98 a4 1.8t fwd. my tiptronic wont engage. park through 1st gear in automatic works fine but when i move it over to tiptronic from Drive it dosnt even engage and still says its in D instead of 1-5. I checked the shifter area to see if that sensor magnet fell of but its still there. I was told its caused by a sensor but i dont know which sensor it is or what its call exactly so a little help would be appriciated. also i just replaced my speed sensor and no tranny fluid was even on the sensor and they said when replacing those you might lose some tranny fluid? so maybe mines really low? how exactly do you check it when there no tranny dip stick? well thanks to everyone that comments

 

If the car drives fine while in "D" but not in tip, its not a mechanical problem with the trans. I would say the TR (tansmission range) switch is bad. Its basically the entire circuit board thats under the chrome shifter plate. You have to remove the radio, a/c control head, ash tray, the trim around the shifter, shift ****, and then pull up the chrome plate to replace the TR.

 

is that the only other thing that could be wrong? and were can i guy a TR switch? and thanks

 

That or the TCM is bad, you need to pull the fault codes from the TCM to be sure. You need a vag com to do that. www.ross-tech.com IF you need the TR switch, you have to get it at the dealer.

 

i got my car scanned and the only codes that came up were P1196 02s heater circuit bank 1 sensor 1 electrical malfunction? do you know what that is or what that means? also the other code was P0422 main catalist efficency below threshold(bank one) but thats cause i have a test pipe. no other codes came up so i dont know whats wrong?? and what is a TCM? tranny control module or something? also where can i buy a TCM

 

The TCM is the transmission control module. If it won't engage tip mode and no faults are present, i would say that the TR switch is bad. Have that replaced.

The fault code for the O2 sensor means the O2 sensor before the cat converter is bad, and needs to be replaced.

 

yeah ill get that TR switch replaced and thanks for the help on that but what are you talking about when you say the 02 sensor needs to be replaced? no code came up for the 02 sensor? a code came up for a heater circuit bank 1 sensor electical malfunction and one was a catalist efficency below threshold bank one but im almost positve that cause i have a test pipe? let me know what you mean but thanks for all the help

 

P1196 02s heater circuit bank 1 sensor 1
Thats an O2 sensor fault before the cat, its a heated O2 sensor. Having a testpipe won't cause a CEL for the BEFORE cat O2 sensor. Having this fault code, will affect engine performance, fuel mileage, and life of the cat. (if you had one)
I've been running around with a bad one myself for like a year now

 

If you find out the TCM itself is bad, it's hella expensive at a dealer. If you need one, I have a few in the garage. Get me the numbers off the top of the unit and if I have a match, I'll let you know.