Key stuck in Ignition - PLEASE HELP ASAP

[MMarkTFSI2]

Hi All,

I am an old member here (formerly MMarkTFSI) but I haven't logged in a while and my account no longer seems to work.

I am having a serious issue with my key stuck in the ignition and I am not able to remove it. I literally cannot leave it anywhere except for my garage because someone could just get in and drive it away.

It's a 2007 Audi A4 (B7) Auto

Here are the symptoms:

- Key will not pass counter clock wise past position 1
- I can turn the car on and drive and all of the gears work
- I can turn the car off, but I cannot take the key out since it wont past position 1
- The Steering Wheel is not locked
- There are no issues with my parking breaks
- There is not a key release button that I can find
- The Gear Shifter button works through all gears, but ONLY pops out when it is in N, D, S, and not in R or P. I suspect this is the reason it is not allowing me to remove my key.
- This is the first time this has happened.

I have tried the following:
- Tapping the gear shifter to get the button to pop out
- Going through all of the gears (about a hundred times) to see if it'll pop the button
- Turn the car on/off (about a hundred and one times)
- Reset the car (unplugged battery)

I've combed through all of the forums and none of them are for B7's. I don't believe that there is anything stuck because the only thing not engaging is the Gear Selector Button.

Any suggestions or resolutions will be greatly appreciated. THANK YOU

[Jhad]

that sucks man. i have heard that you should tap (slam) straight down on the shifter.

edit: i found a thread where a guy had the same problem as you. he pulled the ashtray out and the shifter cable moved a little bit. he readjusted it and tightened the nut.
last post here

[mec]

kill switch?

[MMarkTFSI2]

JHad - thanks man, i appreciate that. I saw that thread too, but I dont believe there is anything wrong with the shift cable (i dont know where that is) and I have never removed my ash tray, mainly because nothing has gotten behind it. I have an aftermarket head unit with that dreaded 1 time use head unit adapter from crutchfield so I might not be able to take the ashtray out without breaking the housing. I'll try to pull the ashtray out today and take a look.

Mec - Kill Switch?

Please, anyone else ever have this issue??

[jdenney741]

At least you won't have a problem of losing your key


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