Car won't start

[slowmonkey]

Jumped in the RS4 this morning ignition on press start button and nothing...............

All the lights are on, radio working etc etc so doesn't seem like a flat battery, checked the check button and comes back with a green ok so I'm pretty much out of ideas.............

I was working behind the RNS at the weekend taking out a Parrot kit and xcarlink but had no issues, closest I got to anything major was removing a switched ignition feed that was fused and plugged into the fuse box.

other than that HELP PLEASE !!!!

[RIV]

Relay

[adsgreen]

Hold the start button down?

[Madmonkee]

If not, whip off the clutch pedal switch and short the pins. Get your self to audi and buy the £15 switch, you can fit it in less than 5 mins.

[slowmonkey]

Thanks for the replies so far.

If not, whip off the clutch pedal switch and short the pins. Get your self to audi and buy the £15 switch, you can fit it in less than 5 mins.

Can you give me a bit more detail on this, are you suggesting it's the clutch pedal switch that tells the starter that it's depressed and there is a way to bypass that ?

Hold the start button down?

I can press it, hold it down, or sit on it and it's not making any difference !

Relay

Okay which one, where is it, how do I check it etc ?

[adsgreen]

If not, whip off the clutch pedal switch and short the pins. Get your self to audi and buy the £15 switch, you can fit it in less than 5 mins.

Can you give me a bit more detail on this, are you suggesting it's the clutch pedal switch that tells the starter that it's depressed and there is a way to bypass that ?

see below

Hold the start button down?

I can press it, hold it down, or sit on it and it's not making any difference !

Unlikely to be the clutch switch.

[pDkALO]

If you've been behind the RNSe pulling wires out I'd put money on you've knocked a connection loose somewhere - it's been a while since I rummaged around behind the radio & dash, but from memory I thought the starter button wiring runs forward towards the centre console, so presumably goes close to the RNSe loom.

Perhaps good start would be to pop out the gear lever gaiter / ashtray surround out to get sight of the starter button wiring (it should be easily visible with the gaiter out), then trace from there - once you know which wires you're looking for you can pull the RNSe out again.

Good luck...

[MikeFish]

Doesnt the car not bother to try and even turn the starter if the battery level is too low? Have you got a voltmeter to check the votage on the battery? If the battery was low i'd still expect the radio and lights to work but the starter to not even bother. I could be wrong but I thought that's how these cars worked. With the cold weather a 6 year old bateery (assuming you are on the original) will no doubt start to struggle. I hadn't used mine for about 6 days and the battery levels was really low but just about started (I have a voltmeter on the processor for my car audio so I could see it was low).

[pDkALO]

Doesnt the car not bother to try and even turn the starter if the battery level is too low? Have you got a voltmeter to check the votage on the battery? If the battery was low i'd still expect the radio and lights to work but the starter to not even bother

That's not what happens in my experience. I've worked on the car over a weekend with all the doors open & lights on for too long and ran the battery down - it opened up OK the next day and the ignition & radio turned on OK but when I hit the starter the solenoid clicked feebly, then all the dash & radio lights when dim and then everything went blank and reset itself. It was pretty obvious and 'old fashioned' sign of a flat battery tbh, which is why I suspect this is a loose connection - seems too much of a coincidence? may be wrong though...

[slowmonkey]

Thanks for the continued help.

Doesnt the car not bother to try and even turn the starter if the battery level is too low? Have you got a voltmeter to check the votage on the battery? If the battery was low i'd still expect the radio and lights to work but the starter to not even bother. I could be wrong but I thought that's how these cars worked. With the cold weather a 6 year old bateery (assuming you are on the original) will no doubt start to struggle. I hadn't used mine for about 6 days and the battery levels was really low but just about started (I have a voltmeter on the processor for my car audio so I could see it was low).

I'm getting 11.80 from my multimeter I'm not sure how that compares to a decent reading. it's on the original battery. And as you say the car doesn't bother to try at all.



Whilst getting to the battery I've found water in there. There is moisture under the plastic cover and a few mm gathered in the well underneath the battery............... Not sure that's related to the starting issue but is something else to sort out, perhaps I'll start a separate thread for that.......

Not a good day so far.

[otterolly]

- it opened up OK the next day and the ignition & radio turned on OK but when I hit the starter the solenoid clicked feebly, then all the dash & radio lights when dim and then everything went blank and reset itself

I agree.....you would at least get some noises of the starter motor having a go

do you have vag com ? may help with diagnosis

[slowmonkey]

dalo - I'll try your bit next after we've exhausted the battery itself !

I think I've found a guide to by pass the clutch switch as well so that could be test number 3..............

[Madmonkee]

As said above, you could have disturbed the connection the the starter button itself, have a look at that.

Get that battery on charge, unless you have something serious to jump it with. 100Ah +

I couldn't start mine when my clutch switch started playing up, I jumped on the pedal a few times and it went in the end.

Let us know how you get on

[pDkALO]

11.8v sounds like a fairly heathy battery to me - they normally lose a cell at a time when they're on their way out so you'd expect it to have dropped to circa 10v

[ArthurPE]

put the meter on the battery and try to start it
have someone tell you how low the V goes (unless you can do a min/max on your meter)