A3 No 1st or 2nd Gear!?

[davemk]

Hi All,

I have no 1st or 2nd Gear at all. I cannot even put it into the gate. 3rd, 4th and 5th work and so does reverse. I cant push down on the gear knob like normal to go into reverse it just stays there. I having to drive in 3rd but i dont want to ruin my clutch and its very dangerous as it takes me a while to pick up speed.

someone said it could be the selector fork but im not entirely sure and people were still able to slide it into that gear but when lifting the clutch it was like it was in neutral. Im not even able to slide it into gear.

Any ideas on what it could be? and the likely repair cost?

Cheers all

[m33sta]

Anything to do with gearbox repairs are not cheap due to the labour time getting to the box itself

[Typ 5K]

I lost 1st and 3rd on the way to work one day. Turned out the exhaust manifold heat shield had fallen off (bolt holes rusted away) and had jammed in the gear linkage! Might be worth checking for that...

[davemk]

cheers chaps i took it to the garage to see if it was a quick fix but he advised he couldnt see any probs around the gearbox or with teh selector in the engine bay and that he would have to take the gear box off. which i didnt want him to go any further as i only have about £200 spare atm which probs wouldnt be enough.

He said that due to the quattro some parts will have to be replaced once removed is this true? he said those parts would be about £150 before he even got to the gearbox. Then once in, he said he will have a look inside and let me kno the damage from there.

I have been going to him for years and he has always given me a good price. but just wondered if this kinda thing is worth going to an audi specialist for? as he does things like cambelts for £90 n services for £60 which is cheap and has always done a good job but i just worry if his knowedge is vast enough for the quattro and its annoying gearbox setup.

What ya reckon?

[Crasher]

That is one evil box to get out and even more painful to get back in, they are heavy and cumbersome due to the four wheel drive take off unit which gets in the way. The box is an 02M and they have a nasty habit of the selector forks failing, £200 will certainly not be enough but it would be impossible to estimate it without firstly removing the box and stripping it down bear in mind that it is extremely advisable to fit a new flywheel, clutch and release bearing whilst the box is out and the parts alone will cost you about £600.

[davemk]

That is one evil box to get out and even more painful to get back in, they are heavy and cumbersome due to the four wheel drive take off unit which gets in the way. The box is an 02M and they have a nasty habit of the selector forks failing, £200 will certainly not be enough but it would be impossible to estimate it without firstly removing the box and stripping it down bear in mind that it is extremely advisable to fit a new flywheel, clutch and release bearing whilst the box is out and the parts alone will cost you about £600.

cack well at least its driveable at the moment and i can use all gears. The only annoying this is the gate into reverse is always open and i dont have to push down anymore. Makes it easy to slip into reverse when stopping if ur not paying 100% attention to it.


my guess is ill need about £900 to sort it then.. thanks for your help mate.

By the way, How comes its advisable to change those other parts? my clutch is near new anyway. Is it because you need to remove most of the parts to get to the clutch and flywheel etc?

[Crasher]

The gate is in the gearshift housing under the lever.

[rapido]

I can vouch for the quattro box being difficult to remove. I had my work get mine out due to the syncro going on 2nd to 3rd. I would advise you get the syncro's done when the box is out to save any hassle later on.

davemk - what mileage is yours on? Mine went at 45K and the bloke I took it to replaced the syncro's and the selector fork for reverse as he said these were prone to going!

At the same time I replaced the clutch as that was slipping a bit and also the
release bearing done as well.

Cost:

R&R gearbox £130
Gearbox work £400
Clutch and bits around £200

Cheers
Alex

[davemk]

I can vouch for the quattro box being difficult to remove. I had my work get mine out due to the syncro going on 2nd to 3rd. I would advise you get the syncro's done when the box is out to save any hassle later on.

davemk - what mileage is yours on? Mine went at 45K and the bloke I took it to replaced the syncro's and the selector fork for reverse as he said these were prone to going!

At the same time I replaced the clutch as that was slipping a bit and also the
release bearing done as well.

Cost:

R&R gearbox £130
Gearbox work £400
Clutch and bits around £200

Cheers
Alex

mines at 100k now n thats is good by the sounds of it lol

ok thanks for ur help mate. Ill get saving. Good thing is i can still drive it perfectly now. Its just my reverse gate is always open lol

[kakourdos]

Hello Everyone...

Just before my first post here...

I had RAC to check my girlfriends A3. It was siuffering the same problem...
It was a little plastic thingy at the gear link... part cost £10... took 5 minutes for the RAC to put it back! everything workd fine since.


Cheers,
Kakourdos