2002 S8 Transmission Park Lock Problems - Fixed!

[eng33]

Was close to posting a 'help', but now seem to have fixed it, so thought I'd document the problem to see if anyone else has come across it or to help others.

So, car is a 2002 S8 with ~67k miles, never had any shift / transmission issues, until getting home the other day. Stopped in the driveway, opened the garage doors, but when I returned to the car I couldn't get it out of park. After about 5 mins of wiggling shifter / brake pedal / ignition switch it did release, and then no problems with the transmission. Backed up, into park, same again! So, after eventually managing to get it to release, parked it in the garage.

After a bit of Googling, discovered there was an Audi recall on the shifter lock ("37D5 gear lever lock warranty enhancement"), but a check with Audi confirmed my car had been done in March 2011, and that the problem was actually to address the opposite of my problem, i.e. shifter could be released from park without a brake pedal application. Also, brake lights work just fine, so brake pedal switch fault unlikely. Finally, only other thing I was advised to check was for a faulty ignition switch, by wiggling it between accessory and ignition, in my case made no difference. As it happens, I discovered that when I did this I could actually hear and feel the shifter lock solenoid clicking anyway!

So, was close to being completely stumped, when I gave the shifter button a good hard press and then heard a slight mechanical click and it released!! Touch wood, it's been fine since. So, it appears all it was was a sticky shifter button!

[sloss]

My old 2002 A8 4.2 was subject to a recall to fix that problem - a new cable was fitted FOC.