Audi A4 - intermittently won't go into gear

[wiggy001]

We have a manual 58 plate Audi A4 and over the past couple of weeks the gears, especially 1st and 2nd, have been really "notchy" but still useable. Yesterday morning my wife physically couldn't get the car into 1st or 2nd - I had to drive and pull away in 3rd. Once moving 1st and 2nd were useable but needed a lot of force to get the car into gear.

However, I went to pick our daughter up from school and the gears now feel fine, as they do again today. It feels like there was something "blocking" the gear lever going into place.

Probably a coincidence, but a neighbour reversed into the side of the car on Christmas day putting a nice dent into the front passenger door and wing, and this has only really been a problem since then.

Any thoughts?

The car is being taken today by the accident management company working for the neighbour's insurers and they will look into this but I just wondered what it could be and what it could cost if they don't deem it to be related to the car being reversed into?

Thanks in advance

[Flooble]

When I had similar it was the clutch not disengaging properly, however, with you being able to get into third probably something else. Any wub-wub-wub or whining noise when slowing down?

[irish boy]

58 plate? It's obviously done. Scrap it and lease a new one. Will be cheaper in the long run.

Serious answer, it would do no harm to change the gear box oil and check the linkages checked for movement/play.

[Loyly]

Shagged linkages? Our Astra's at work suffer from worn linkages which typically appear as a difficulty selecting first and an uncomfortable thud as they take second. On the rare occasion they get fixed, they work fine again. Worse when the car is cold, too, though I gather that can be a selector issue.

[MorganP104]

I have no idea if the gearbox issue is related to the damage caused by your neighbour, but I would say it's DEFINITELY worth mentioning in the context of the insurance claim.

Raising it after the bodywork's been done will get you nowhere.

When parked, do you keep the car in gear (i.e. 1st or 2nd)? There's a possibility the impact may have "jerked" the drivetrain as the front wheels moved when the other car hit it.

[wiggy001]

Thanks for the quick responses so far.

MorganP104 said:

I have no idea if the gearbox issue is related to the damage caused by your neighbour, but I would say it's DEFINITELY worth mentioning in the context of the insurance claim.

Raising it after the bodywork's been done will get you nowhere.

When parked, do you keep the car in gear (i.e. 1st or 2nd)? There's a possibility the impact may have "jerked" the drivetrain as the front wheels moved when the other car hit it.

I have raised it with the accident management company and they have added it to the worksheet for the garage.

We don't leave the car in gear when parked.

Just for the avoidance of doubt, when we couldn't get it into 1st or 2nd, we could only just manage to get it into 3rd (needed some force). Once move all gears were available but 1st and 2nd still needed force. It felt like we were trying to put the car into gear without the clutch pressed at all, but without any "crunching" of the gears.

I'll see what the garage says when they've taken a look.

[Swampy1982]

wiggy001 said:

We don't leave the car in gear when parked.

but are you really sure you didn't on this occasion....

[SonicShadow]

Linkage / bushes perhaps.

[Chrismawa]

Sounds similar to what was happening to my old A4. That needed a new gearbox - hopefully this isn't the same for you.

[new_bloke]

Swampy1982 said:

wiggy001 said:

We don't leave the car in gear when parked.

but are you really sure you didn't on this occasion....

And you're quite sure your neck hasn't started to hurt too?

[wiggy001]

Quick update on this. Car was with the garage for nearly 4 weeks (don't ask!) and they said they could find nothing wrong with the gears - they were working fine for them and nothing came up on any diagnostics they did. We took the car back on the 1st Feb and it seemed to be absolutely fine. Fast forward to Tuesday of this week, driving along the motorway and try to change down from 6th to 5th... won't go into gear. In fact, it won't go into any gear!

It's now at my local indy and I'm awaiting the bad news. We looked under the bonnet when it was at the garage and the whole of the engine bay is covered in a fine brown dust...

The annoying thing is we had planned to trade it in for something newer at the start of the year and I was on my way to a dealer to look at a new car when this happened.

[wiggy001]

Root cause: flywheel bearings went, damaging clutch and gearbox shaft.
Cost: £1200...

Didn't realise just how heavy the clutch pedal had got! Feels like a new car now!

[Flooble]

Glad to get a resolution, so many of these threads just end up left hanging.

Condolences on the cost.

[annodomini2]

wiggy001 said:

Root cause: flywheel bearings went, damaging clutch and gearbox shaft.
Cost: £1200...

Didn't realise just how heavy the clutch pedal had got! Feels like a new car now!

Do you mean Clutch release bearing?

'Flywheel bearing' would indicate the main engine bearings had failed, which would mean a full engine rebuild or replacement.

[Worlestone]

Useful to read, our 1.4 A3 has the same issue, been in and out of garage, but keeps happening. Usually reluctance to go into 3rd, but occasionally 1st and can happen at anytime. Is the flywheel bearing something which would/could be changed with a clutch change? The clutch is heavier than on our Golf

Cheers