Car will not crank
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 35
Likes: 0
From: maryville IL
Car will not crank
I took my 97 A4 c5 to run the 1/4mile last night and during my first pass, the car would not shift from 2nd to 3rd and it redlined. Then the tires barked a little like it was downshifting...the car then completely shutdown right after this. I rolled off the track and the car would only click and would not start?? It had a ton of codes on the display and I had to have it put on a flatbead to get it home. When we got it home, It would roll fine forward, but it seemed likeit was in gear when we tried to roll it in reverse??? Just had the tranny rebuilt with stage 3 goodies and a new 3.42 rear installed about a month ago. Could the tranny shot craps and be stuck in gear?? OR??? HELP
Tech Contributor
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 19,292
Likes: 1,109
From: Dyer, IN
I took my 97 A4 c5 to run the 1/4mile last night and during my first pass, the car would not shift from 2nd to 3rd and it redlined. Then the tires barked a little like it was downshifting...the car then completely shutdown right after this. I rolled off the track and the car would only click and would not start?? It had a ton of codes on the display and I had to have it put on a flatbead to get it home. When we got it home, It would roll fine forward, but it seemed likeit was in gear when we tried to roll it in reverse??? Just had the tranny rebuilt with stage 3 goodies and a new 3.42 rear installed about a month ago. Could the tranny shot craps and be stuck in gear?? OR??? HELP
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 10,962
Likes: 29
From: Van Buren Arkansas
Wounded Warrior Escort '11
Sorry, duh attack on my part and apparently I'm blind too... Ok, so all you are getting is a click. Start with the most obvious things such as the battery voltage available. Needs to be at a minimum of 12.5 or above, static with everything turned off, in order for this car to run. So, assuming I didn't misread things again, please feel free to correct me, you are turning the key and only get the click. Is the click the solenoid or just a relay somewhere? Yeah, I'm starting with the no-start condition. As for it not rolling backwards and you have an A4 tranny, can you even gear the shifter into neutral? I'm guessing you did but its not moving. You are correct in the possibly assumption that the transmission may have issues. I suggest getting the rear wheels off the ground with the fronts block of course, see if you can manually turn the wheels. Past that, all you can do is pull the differential out to seperate it from the tranny. If the differential is then free-spinning, you've narrowed it down to the trans.
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Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 35
Likes: 0
From: maryville IL
ok....I got it to turn over and run today...it seems like the input shaft/torque tube may have broke because there was smoke and a tranny fluid smell coming from where the torque tube meets the tranny??? There was also a clanging noise that went away after the car ran for about 20 minutes?? No sign of engine damage. What to do next?
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 10,962
Likes: 29
From: Van Buren Arkansas
Wounded Warrior Escort '11
All you can do is take her apart and see what the damage is. Sorry, no better suggestions than that. To get to the torque tube, you'll have to pull the diff/trans anyway.
