I'm a new member here, hopefully this is posted in the correct section. The vehicle is a 1999 Audi A4 Quattro with the 1.8L turbo and automatic (tiptronic) transmission. I bought the vehicle well under market for fair value because it will not pass emissions, I figured it would be nice to have a spare car if I get it sorted out.

This vehicle had every warning light in the cluster lit up, and was beeping and flashing "Brake."
The brake/abs/CEL/MIL lights cannot be illuminated to pass emission testing. Through search I was able to suspect the ABS module. It was sent to be rebuild, reinstalled and seems to have fixed everything with the exception of the CEL/MIL light.

A generic scan tool gave me a code of p0722. This is a transmission range output issue.. but the description seems to be as generic as the scan tool.

I am very much on a budget, so I ordered a 25 dollar audi/vw specific scan tool off of ebay to further pull stored codes for the transmission issue.

The codes are as titled, 00297 and 00293. The car does still run and shift (a tad sluggish from what I expected, may just be 13 years old though) so it is not in its failsafe of 3rd gear. I read some discussion on TCM issues, but they seemed to keep being tied to fwd cvt audi's. I am patient and have all the tools I need to take the trans out if needed, but I'm really just trying to see where I should be headed, or some common service bulletin type information I may have missed. I was hoping I may get lucky and have it be something external (speed sensor?) and hopefully something that does not need dealer programing.

Any advice is appreciated, hopefully I have provided enough information for a starting point, but please feel free to ask/ educate me in anything I have missed.

Thanks, look forward to joining you fellow owners on the road.

-Matt

 

Looks like you will need a multifunction switch( neutral safety switch) they usually get wet and start to act up( have tried to take it apart and fix, couple of weeks later would come back) and the speed sensor in the front diff! Is the speedo working properly? Can you read speed With the scan tool and confirm that it ia acurate?..

 

Thanks for your reply.

I believe the speed sensor to be okay, it does still read on the dash, and seems accurate. It was not been checked with a scan tool, but with a GPS unit while driving the vehicle. I'm not completely discounting this as my issue, but with the speedo working I hadn't considered strongly replacing it just yet.

Please advise,

Matt

 

well in order to find the problem you will need a scan tool. check the multifunction switch , its on the left side right where the shifter linkage is bolted to ....

 

Once I locate it, am I checking it for resistance? The scan tool gave the codes I posted. I bought the ebay vagcom cable but have been unable to figure out the software so far.

 

its a switch, so it will get power and ground and a bunch of switchable pins... take it out and see if there is any water in there, before that check to see if there is any water in the trans module under the front passenger floor...

 

Thank you I'll report back this weekend. Another thing I didn't realize until you mentioned this.. When you select gears it doesn't display on the dash. The PRND all have a red background and it doesn't change when selecting gears. Does this set off any red flags for whether its the switch or tcm?

 

Also noticed the tiptronic control is not functioning.. it just shifts as if it is in drive.. will not down/upshift manually. Is this also a function of that multifunction switch?

 

Well the TCU was dry inside, so I removed the neutral safety switch. Slight corrosion on the terminals but nothing too terrible. I went ahead and ordered one for testing.. it was difficult enough to remove that I dont want to do it twice. Ill report back my results.

 

Finally installed the neutral safety switch, and disconnected the battery during install. It had no codes for a few minutes of running, then the check engine light popped back on.

Without driving/ shifting it.. it threw these codes : 18010 and 18032.

Not sure what my next move is, car seems to drive around the block just fine, but I need to warning lights resolved to get the inspection.