Humy

Wazzup guyz ,

...this is a weird one. So last night I get into the Vettey and go to start it, and she starts up very healthy and then just shuts off after about two whole seconds. She shut off before I even tried to shift the A4 out of park . To make things even more confusing, no trouble codes or check engine light came on . Only thing was, a "low oil level" warning, which is a common, cranky baby, warning she likes to give me ever since I owned her even though she is usually slightly overfilled.

After she shut off, I waited about ten seconds, said a prayer, begged her to start, and nothing - all I could hear was a electrical pump sound. No clicking, no cranking, nothing.

So I pull the key, open the door, so everything fully turns off, wait 10 seconds, and she starts healthy and just turns off calmly after two seconds... basically, exact same shyt happened.

So she started, eventually, when I held the key in the ignition gently pushing it inward as I turned the key. So my guess, it is the key - but this morning the same crap was happening with my spare key. However, after holding the key in and turing she started up fine.

Has this happened to any of you guys? What do you thing it is, and worst of all, how much do think it'll cost me to fix ?

BTW - she's a 97 C5 A4, about to roll 40,000 miles. And she has had a CLB for over 3 years now without any column lock issues.

Thanks playaz!

ptdrummer54

By the sounds of it - my $.02 is that it sounds like your ignition switch may be going south.

corvettebob1

I bet we are going to see a lot of this as the C5 get's older, replace the ignition lock cylinder.
It's not reading the resistor pellet in the key correctly and telling the BCM to go into a security mode.
And if I were you I would have the dealer remove the CLB and do the recall for the column lock issue at the same time.
For some reason 97-98's don't like the CLB.
I tore most of what's left of my hair out this summer trying to fix mine till I did the above. Now no problem

csexton

Humy

what does something like this cost? How much is the part, and how many hours of labor? , this will be my first out of warranty repair expense

Humy

I pose the same cost question as above this post about the ignition lock cylinder.

bsmith

ignition switch cylinder

I fought with this intermittent problem for 9 months before finally doing something about it.

part# 12458190 ignition cylinder list price $101.07 (I negotiated $75)
part# 26047315 retainer list price $.90

total parts $75.90
1.5 hrs labor @$65/hr= $97.50

I was out the door for $178.72

when mine first started doing that... there were no codes left. It got worse and worse and then it started registering codes.

hope this helps

Humy

phew :o - that's not bad, I almost thought I was gonna loose my breakfast this morning all over my cube.

bsmith

I cant get the search function to work... I have had a half dozen threads about my problems in the last 9 months.

here is a thread to check out


oh yeah... pay attention to the "security" light by the tach when you put the key in the ignition. when you turn the key forward, (not all the way to start) if the light starts flashing instead of being steady, she aint gonna start.

Good luck

Vetteman Jack

If both keys are doing the same thing, then it sounds like you have a problem with the ignition switch. I'd get it checked out.

Sebring_C5

Another vote for ignition switch. Let us know how it goes