Shifter linkage issue

B6/7 S4/RS4
#1

I lost 5th gear on a downshift on the interstate today. I had been cruising in 6th for a while. I couldn’t feel 5th gear at all, it was just blank space. Gears 1-4 and 6 also felt slightly off so I figured the shifter somehow came out of alignment.

I loosened the adjustment bolts to start over, now I can’t feel ANY gears with any adjustment. It just feels like blank space and the shifter bearing is bottoming out. I’m assuming something is wrong with the linkage.

Any likely culprits that may have broken or been disconnected? I have the full JHM trio and cross rod if that helps.

#2

Well my best guess is either the cross rod or stabilizer rod has come unbolted due to improper fastening or misuse of loctite by My Favorite Shop.

Looks like I have a fun day ahead of me.

Btw, this video is very informative on how the shifter and linkage assembly works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYxAm521KuA

#3

maybe the gears ran away to escape their abusive relationship :slight_smile:

It would be interesting to see what came loose for you to be able to get in 5 of the gears and then zero when you tried adjusting

#4

Yep, the nut on the front bolt of the stabilizer rod is spinning freely which is allowing play in the stabilizer rod. I am pretty fuckin pissed off right now.

#5

Well shit! You should be able to get an 8mm allen key up there in the bolt and then tighten the nut fairly easily though.

At least the actual rod didn’t break on your car like it did on my A6.

#6

I’d try to get it but I want the shop who did the work to drop the transmission and inspect the linkage system bolts/nuts for torque and loctite. Well actually I want to inspect them because I don’t trust the shop at all at this point. I can’t have this problem reoccur, especially not during track season.

Remember that bellhousing bolt that was backed out? About a month ago I took it in to have them take care of it. The tech told me straight to my face that he got it tightened all the way. Guess what… it’s still backed out. He tossed half of my belly pan screws too.

#7

Yeah it sounds like you need to find a different local shop for repairs.

#8

Just confirmed the cross rod bolt is loose as well. 2/2 on the diagnosis. I bet $100 there are no signs of loctite any of the linkage nuts or bolts.

#9

If you didnt already take the car into the shop. Try taking it to the same shop but dont tell them that you know what is wrong and see if they lie to you. This way you can really tell if they are worth thinking about going to in the future if you need help

#10

I’ve already written this shop off. I think they have a problem with a specific tech that does a lot of their Audi work. I’m sure he’s a good tech, but might be affected by the amount of volume the shop is pushing. I’m going to oversee that these problems get fixed on their dollar and never do business with them again.

#11

Smart if you have already written them off there is no need to keep trying to prove they are or are not going to lie to you about there work. The sad thing is this happens far too often. People go in for work and the shops dont do great work the end result is good guys like yourself get stuck. I remember there was a guy with a RS4 several years ago that spend like 400 dollars getting his shifter installed by a shop that said the JHM shifter was the issue and not there lack of ability to actually work on the car. Take that and just about every clutch failure you have seen not long after install only to find out the shops that installed the clutch didnt actually use loctite. It sucks… I am glad to see you got the sorce of the issue found out right away.

If you get a chance make sure you inspect the rods now. Now that the bolt backed out there will have been a lot of odd angle tq put on the rods due to the bolt not keeping them flush. There is a small chance that there could be some damage or twisting of the end of the rods. this would cause issues in shifting down the road

#12

Good point, I will be sure to do that. I’m also going to take a look at the clutch/flywheel bolts. The clutch has felt great since the install in September so I think that will be okay.

#13

So the shop took care of all the issues even though it was pretty far outside of their officially stated warranty. I’m glad they decided to stand behind their work. Not all shops would have been as reasonable as they have been with this issue. They even got the shifter alignment perfect.

#14

its good to hear this kind of ending to something so frustrating