starter wont engage

[Tenedorr]

Hey. 2007 A4 2.0. Maine. Freezing. When I put the key in everything lights up like it should but when I turn the key the starter wont engage at all, not even a little click. The lights don't dim noticeably. The car has been starting a little hard lately when its freezing out and EPC coming on when it idles but when I turn it off and on again the light goes away. It got a little worse until it went on and wouldnt go off even when restarting the car. Went to VIP and had the codes cleared, no more EPC. I brought it to a mechanic to check it out. He found nothing. I dont know if its related. Any ideas? I'd love to be able to fix it in my driveway rather than have it towed to a mechanic. Any help would be awesome.

[Denio24]

Pull the starter and see if the solenoid is engaging. Just connect it to 12v supply as soon as you have it off.

[Audibot]

Can you hear the clicking of the plugs/injectors? If so, then your starter is probably dead. Wonder if it's something similar to my parents' car (a 90s Chrysler). Their starter motor just died suddenly one day when they went to drive home from a store. Turns out that the planet gearing was made of nylon and after x-number of years and starts, the grease was gone and the thing disintegrated.

[Okedokey]

Flat battery.

[Schweini]

My starter had similar symptoms 2 years ago around this same time too, when it got colder out. I pulled it out, took it apart and cleaned it out, as well as lube it up. Threw it back in and its been working like a champ.

I was 1 click away to buying a new starter if it wasnt for a friend to tell me to just clean it. Hopefully this works for you as well if you decide to give that a try

[ADCS]

Get a big stick.
Hit starter with big stick.
Start engine.

[Tenedorr]

It's not a dead battery. Everything pre-start is normal its just when the key gets to start nothing happens. It's as though Im not even turning the key. I said screw it and had it towed to the local guys, they're pretty reliable. My money is on solenoid or relays, more likely relays what with the other odd intermittent symptoms.

[aluthman]

I was noticing slower, longer cranks before my starter gave out. Cold weather will make it worse. When I pulled the dead starter, there was scorching on some of the connectors like it was arcing from one spot to another. New starter went in and the car cranks like a mofo now. I didn't realize how slow it had been cranking until I put a new starter in.

[Sanjman]

It's not a dead battery. Everything pre-start is normal its just when the key gets to start nothing happens. It's as though Im not even turning the key. I said screw it and had it towed to the local guys, they're pretty reliable. My money is on solenoid or relays, more likely relays what with the other odd intermittent symptoms.

Omg your back..... And you're blaming more relays and you cleared EPC codes without even reading the codes. Check your alternator. Lmao

But seriously you're title says it all

[Tenedorr]

Where did it say I didn't read the codes? I read the codes and I told the garage about it. If you don't want to contribute why can't you just lay off? I have a problem with my car and was looking for input not your bullshit sarcasm..

[Tenedorr]

Got the car back. They said they tried to start it a couple times to no avail, put it in neutral then back in park and it started right up. It started the next 30 times they tried over the course of 24 hours and couldn't get it to duplicate the problem. They are guessing its some switch in the transmission that tells the car its in neutral or park. They recommended I call a guy that deals with foreign cars and he thinks thats what it is too. Bringing it there Monday to see if they can figure it out. Meanwhile another thing has popped up. The same place where the low oil or low wiper fluid light pops up I've bbeen getting what appears to be an uppercase D or a poor depiction of a head light with ! in the middle and two arrows on the left of it, one pointing up and one pointing down, has started to appear. It also has what appears to be light on lowbeam mode coming from it. I'm guessing its headlight involved, probably the adaptive xenons because all the lights still work. Anybody have any experience with either of these two things so I'll know what to expect Monday it would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Denio24]

Get a big stick.
Hit starter with big stick.
Start engine.

I hope you mean hit the solenoid, not the actual starter motor casing, because that will break the magnets and render your starter useless.

[617 Bones]

I hope you mean hit the solenoid, not the actual starter motor casing, because that will break the magnets and render your starter useless.

I think he does mean to hit the actual starter body. It's pretty normal for old starter gears to get stuck after many years of use of no maintenance. Gently tapping on the starter can sometimes loosen the gear enough to spin and start the car. This method is typically a "I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere" 1-time use method to at least get home or to drop off at a shop for repair. The key is not to smash it with metal or hard enough to crack the case. Usually the wooden handle of the hammer in a poking motion will do the trick. You just want to tap it with "thunk" type force to free up the insides a bit

[Tenedorr]

This morning went to start the car, it was 9 degree's, and it took about 20 times of turning the key for the starter to engage. Also once the key seemed to turn all the way around in a complete circle. I'm guessing that the ignition where the key goes in is the problem. Anyone have any experience with this? Cost? Difficulty to replace? Does it have to be programmed to the key or is that another part?

[crazyquik22023]

This morning went to start the car, it was 9 degree's, and it took about 20 times of turning the key for the starter to engage. Also once the key seemed to turn all the way around in a complete circle. I'm guessing that the ignition where the key goes in is the problem. Anyone have any experience with this? Cost? Difficulty to replace? Does it have to be programmed to the key or is that another part?

If you are saying the key turned around in a full circle while in the ignition cylinder then you definitely have a faulty ignition cylinder. I am not sure of the cost of one of these but I am guessing it will be a dealer only part. If you order from the dealer they should be able to get an ignition cylinder to match your key based on the VIN of your car. If not you would need to have a new key cut to match the cylinder and would need to transfer the new key blade over to your existing key fob or take the immobilizer chip out of your key fob and transfer it to a new one. The immobilizer is part of the instrument cluster and not the cylinder so there will shouldn't be any programming required.

[Audibot]

This morning went to start the car, it was 9 degree's, and it took about 20 times of turning the key for the starter to engage. Also once the key seemed to turn all the way around in a complete circle. I'm guessing that the ignition where the key goes in is the problem. Anyone have any experience with this? Cost? Difficulty to replace? Does it have to be programmed to the key or is that another part?

I had this happen to me on my old Chevy Beretta, except I could not turn the car off. Initially had to undo the battery, then opened up the clamshell and had to physically pull back on the mechanism. That went on for about 3 weeks before I got a new (to me) car. I gave up on my car because it was a complete POS; I don't think you should on yours though.

[Slosh]

im having pretty much the same problem. shop replaced a battery when my car died at a stoplight. said the car runs fine however i was able to have the car on for an hour waiting for assistance to show up cause it was freezing cold and i'd rather sit in there with the heat. but the car was running for about 5 minutes before it started driving for about 5 minutes.

This is the car's first winter too.

[Tenedorr]

It only did a full rotation once now I'm being careful not to turn the key too hard. Getting a quote on it from a guy I trust. Here's hoping it's not a $2000 fix and there's no programming included. The place I dont trust at all is the Audi dealership. They really took me for a ride last year.

[Tenedorr]

Replaced the ignition switch, it all seems good now but the true test will be the next couple freezing mornings. The guy said there was a bunch of white plastic debris/dust in the old one.

[Tenedorr]

-2 today of course the car wouldnt start. I want a BMW.

[Tenedorr]

JK obviously I love the Audi. In all seriousness whats the best way to reach the starter to tap on it?

[Tenedorr]

Today I tried turning the ket to the start osition and holding it there. There were a few barely audible noises then the starter began cranking and it started. This has got to be the starter begining to go in cold weather doesnt it?

[Tenedorr]

Or could it be the relays....aaahhhh? Im going to scour the threads in the b7 section again, I've found many similar symptoms but nobody posted what it was! Anybody with any input?

[Tenedorr]

New starter, worked great at 13 degrees and 11 degrees, this morning it's -1 out so if it works today then problem solved.

[Tenedorr]

Problem solved. Also since I got the new ignition switch I stopped getting the p2294, I think it may be related. Whoop whoop love the car again!