My Audi nightmare

[Bob Rossato]

This is a broken ignition switch as a result of jamming from the steering
wheel lock.  It is a very common failure.  There is a tab at the end of the
key tumbler that fits into a slot in the electrical half of the switch.  The
electrical switch has a plastic housing and typically what happens is that
the housing in the area of the slot cracks from repeatedly trying to force a
recalcitrant ignition switch.  Once the housing cracks it expands slightly
resulting in enough friction inside the bore it resides in to prevent the
ignition switch from returning to the "run" position after starting the
engine.  The "start" position is a momentary contact that is only supposed
to be engaged while starting, and the switch is spring loaded to return it
to the "run" position when you let go of the key.  When in the "start"
position the X-Cutout relay is engaged which cuts out power to all high draw
items, such as headlights, wipers, climate control, etc., in order to
provide as much power as possible to the starter.  The fact that none of
these were working for you indicates that your switch was stuck in the start
position.  Of course this means that your starter was most likely engaged
all the time which was probably the noise you were hearing.  So,
unfortunately your starter may not be long for this world.

The electrical half of the switch is relatively cheap, ~$30 from the dealer
and isn't too difficult to replace.  There was a recall on this years back
to replace the switch but they're all starting to fail again and Audi is not
covering it again.  Many have tried, including myself, and their story is
that they fixed it once and they're not going to cover it again.  Since you
just bought your car from the dealer 3 weeks ago you may have better luck in
getting the dealer itself to cover the repair.  I think the problem is more
related with the steering lock mechanism and that the initial binding that
requires wiggling of the steering wheel to allow the ignition switch to turn
at all is somehow loading the plastic housing of the electrical switch.
Though I haven't taken a good look at it to see how it could be doing this.

In the meantime when you start your car manually turn the switch back
slightly until you have power to the electricals again in order to avoid
continued damage to your starter.

Bob

> -----Original Message-----
> From: quattro-admin at audifans.com [mailto:quattro-admin at audifans.com]On
> Behalf Of Seth
> Sent: Sunday, October 05, 2003 11:59 AM
> To: quattro at audifans.com
> Subject: My Audi nightmare
>
>
> This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
> --
> [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
> Hi all,
>
> I bought my first Audi (a 1993 90S Quattro) about 3 weeks and have been
> loving it.  Occasionally I've had a little trouble getting the key to
> turn but jiggling the wheel would usually allow it to turn eventually.
>
> Last night, the key wouldn't turn.  I jiggled the wheel, absolutely no
> luck.  After a few hours I called the dealer where I bought the car and
> he suggested jacking it up to relieve pressure off the front tires(the
> wheels were turned rather sharply).  We did this and it finally allowed
> the key to turn and the car to start.
>
> But, there was now a squealing sound whenever I shifted(automatic)from
> park to neutral and this noise continued when the car was in neutral.
> Only by shifting into drive or park would the sound cease.  And, none of
> my electrical gadgets works.  No lights(except blinkers), no wipers, no
> radio, no heat, etc.  When I got home and was turning the key off (to
> position 2), the electrical gadgets all worked again.
>
> So, I climb in the car, try to turn the key - nothing.  I jiggled the
> wheel hard and it did turn and allowed the car to start.  But, the
> squealing noise still remains and the electrical devices are again not
> working.
>
> I'm completely lost. I loved my new(used)Audi but this is really
> frustrating.  Does anyone know what might be wrong and what the
> potential repair costs could be?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Seth Jarrett
> --
>
>
>