Wildgoose

Put the car in reverse, backed up. Put down in drive and the car stayed in reverse. Went back to park, reverse, drive. Still in reverse. Turned the car off. Would not start back up, obviously still in reverse. Had to leave it at work in the parking lot. The battery has been going dead lately so I'm thinking it might be the problem and not the shift linkage. I bought a battery to put on the car tomorrow but wondering if anyone has seen this before. Car only has 32k miles, 08 z51 A6. ???

4SUMERZ

Change the battery to see if that is the problem. If it still does it, then I'm thinking it's the shifter cable end bushing that broke off.
Was the shifter hard or easy to shift back to Park? If it's real easy, then it's likely the cable.

Good Luck
Keep Us Posted.

Wildgoose

It did seem kinda easy but it still feels like it's going to all gear positions, not just freely sliding. What do I need to do to get to the cable if the battery doesn't work?

4SUMERZ

It's possible that the bushing is not completely broken off, but cracked, thus not actually moving the cable as it should.
If the battery does not fix the issue, then you will need to remove the radio surround console to get the top part of the shifter off so you can see the bushing/cable
I have the PDF's to do these things if you need them.
Just PM me to let me know you need them, leave your e-mail in the PM, and I'll send them to you ASAP.

Hope that the battery is the issue.

Wildgoose

battery didn't help. I'm wondering if I should have done a hard reset when I had the battery off. Touching the positive and negative together for 10-15 seconds on the car.

4SUMERZ

No, I wouldn't do that. I sent you a PM

CI GS

Although probably not the culprit in your case, it also be the plastic clip on the transmission cable where it connects to the detent lever on the transmission under the car. It could either be broken or unlocked or disconnected somehow. That clip has a lock that is used to adjust the cable and when that lock is popped out, the cable can move quite a bit without moving the lever. If you look at the photo below, you can see the plastic end on the cable. In the middle of that white plastic piece, on the top, you can see the lock in its locked position. It pops out to adjust the cable end to make sure the shifter cable is adjusted to synchronize it properly with the detent lever?
The problem is that it is right above the tailpipe. Please note that I had the exhaust off my car when this photo was taken, so it may be difficult to see on your car. Obviously will need the car up on a lift or on stands high enough that you can slide under it to look up on the drivers side of the trans.
Hope you get it solved easily, whatever it is.

4SUMERZ

Hopefully, it's either that end, or better yet the other end just under the shifter, which can be accessed from the inside of the car.

The PDF that I included is for the shifter end bushing replacement.

4SUMERZ

PDF's sent for console removal, and shifter removal.

Wildgoose

Much appreciated sir. I'll take it apart when I get off work today and see if that's it.