Right I will commence by saying the problem is on my wife's audi and not our FL2. Coming here as at least people reply and do not spout rubbish as they do on the audi forums.
Problem is selecting gears. All forward and reverse gears can be selected with engine off and clutch not depressed.
Start the engine and no gear can be selected, clutch pedal depressed, the gear stick just baulks at some obstruction and no amount of force will get it into a gear. So only way to proceed is with engine off select a gear, clutch depressed and then let the clutch out, away she goes. One can then drive normally until one has to select neutral. Then the problem repeats itself. Whilst driving there is no cruching on changing gear. Is a hydraulic clutch, fluid shared with brake system and is to correct level and correct colour. So I am suspecting fault in clutch itself or
master/slave cylinder. No leaks apparent evidenced by fluid level being fine. Clutch pedal does not seem to need much force but as not my daily drive acnnot say if normal. No good asking my wife
Any suggestions that seem obvious?
Thanks

Could you be more specific; Audi make a range of vehicles; most are based on VW models, but some are pretty unique eg R8. So model and age would help.

You say "One can then drive normally until one has to select neutral."

But surely you pass through neutral when changing gears. What do you mean by "select neutral"?

Just a thought.
Does it have some sort of locking mechanism tied into the ignition?
Saabs used to have a system whereby the key could not be removed unless the gearbox was put in gear after shutting down the engine; so you couldn't leave the car parked in neutral. Jules

Hi

Its a 2009/2010 A4

By selecting neutral mean stopping and putting it into neutral. If one does that it is impossible to select a gear if engine still running. Needs engine off, select gear start engine to resume.
To start the engine one has to have the clutch pedal depressed.

From past experience I would suspect Slave/Master cylinder? Change both before digging any deeper. 2013 FL2 XS.
Defender 90 300 TDi.
Defender 90 300 TDi CSW.
1964 MGB Roadster.
1944 Willys MB "Jeep" with bullet holes. (gone)
17 hand Irish Drought Thoroughbred (mostly lame)
Nagging Old Boiler.

Is my line of thinking. The fact the gears can be selected suggested to me that the clutch itself is not the problem.
Been suggested change gearbox oil, not convinced on that and or change hydraulic fluid. Well as I have mentioned level is good and colour is fine so changing that to my ind would be a pointless exercise unless one had master/slave cylinders out. Will take to local garage not a bad set of guys. Too wet and cold for me to go clambering around on hands and knees.

To change the slave on modern cars is a gearbox off job as the slave is part of the release bearing.


Its the same for the FL2 (see #9 below)




Not like the good ol' days when you could change a Disco 1 clutch slave whilst on holiday with just a small set of spanners. Had to do that many years ago whilst caravanning in North Yorkshire. Jules

Last edited by jules on 1st Nov 2022 5:43 pm. Edited 2 times in total

Nothing is made any easier these days. As you say often for a slave cylinder change not the most convenient when inside the bell housing itself.

Also the gearbox & clutch are very heavy. I replaced the clutch on a Skoda Fabia a few years ago - never again - way too awkward and heavy for me. Jules

alex_pescaru wrote:

The clutch is not fully disconnecting the engine and the box input shaft is still spinning / driven by the engine.
The synchros are not allowing you to change gear when the input shaft is driven.
Their job is to match speeds of the two (or more) shafts inside the box.
If the input shaft is still spinning/driven, then the synchros can't do their job.
And yes, any box can change gears when the engine is off (not spinning).

And there's the answer  Jules

Alex is spot on. I would suggest the clutch plate is almost out of material, and has been heating up as a result. This heating can often cause warping of the plates between the rivets, which the drags sufficiently to prevent the synchros from equalising the shaft speeds, which means the gears just balk rather than engaging. 2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Soon to be sold.
Hyundai Ionic 5 Ultimate on order.
Gone. 2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE.

I can see the arguement that the clutch is not disconnecting the engine gearbox. If so how come it works fine when under way and I can change into any of the forward gears?

It works better when moving because the speed difference between the gears is less than when the engine is running and the vehicle is stationary.
As the rotational speed of the gears is closer when underway, the synchro rings are able to do their job, even though the clutch is dragging slightly.

I've come across this very issue several times (including my daughter's Fiat 500), and it's almost always due to a worn or distorted clutch plate.
There was one exception, where there was some air in the hydraulics, which limited clutch disengagement, but this only appeared after the master cylinder was replaced by a customer, who hadn't got all the air out the system. 2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Soon to be sold.
Hyundai Ionic 5 Ultimate on order.
Gone. 2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE.

alex_pescaru wrote:

The clutch is not fully disconnecting the engine and the box input shaft is still spinning / driven by the engine.
The synchros are not allowing you to change gear when the input shaft is driven.
Their job is to match speeds of the two (or more) shafts inside the box.
If the input shaft is still spinning/driven, then the synchros can't do their job.
And yes, any box can change gears when the engine is off (not spinning).

She's , the car not wife, off this morning to let the garage have a look.