a6 c7 multitronic fault

[danielxxx]

Today after 50km of usual driving I went shopping,but when I came back I got a nasty surprise on the dashboard :

gearbox malfunction you can continue driving limited functionality

I couldn't start the engine - after starting the ignition it was starting to crank to motor but immediately it was cutting off.

The gear lever was stuck in P,I couldn't move it into another position. There was a clicking multiple sound coming from the gear selector area.

Morever, there was a glow plugs warning on the dashboard flashing,as well as the check engine light.
After waiting some time I was able to start the car again. I went for a test drive,no problems at all. After few minutes when I stopped again I had all the warnings back,but this time I could move the gear selector ( with the engine running),the difference was that the car didn't see in which position the selector was - it was asking to put it on P even though it was in P or D/S.

Again I stopped the engine. After 30 min I started the car with no problem this time and I was able to drive to the service 100km on highway with absolutely no problems (I left the car there as they are closed today,so I need to wait until Monday).It was an usual,smooth ride,no power loss,no other problems.

When the error was present on the dashboard and I was able to put a reverse car was jerking at the time of going from P to R. When the error was gone that jerk was gone too.

Car has 140000 km done,always serviced at the dealer and multitronic oil replaced as it should be. Never had any problems with the car,ride is always smooth,without any difference if it's cold or warm,it holds on the hill strongly. Only thing I sometimes observe is a tiny,tiny jerking when driving on R on a parking. But no big thing,not during the changing between P to R or from D to R.

Could it be,that this is a problem with the gear selector sensor? Or maybe brake pedal sensor ( I had it almost the same in my previous A6 C5 multitronic).

Many thanks for help

[Crasher]

It could just be a faulty battery, modern starters will crank over on less voltage than the engine ECU can run at.

[danielxxx]

That could be it,thanks a lot for a suggestion !

[Whippy53]

A slightly tired battery can throw all sorts of odd fault messages, seems to be one of those things.