njroute22

@MainelyA8 thanks for the post - which inspired me to get the piece. Ours finally came from eBay - and we installed it today. Took less than half an hour. Tested and works well! This thread helped me not screw it up. One extra tip - that one wire connector you have to disconnect is easier to do if you remove the little plug which keeps it in place.

Here's the finished install.



And here is what was left of my original... it was ready to break entirely. Probably from parking on the top deck of a public garage for several years. Maybe the Wuhan shifter will last more than a month.

maxandtara

Njroute22,

Good job Buddy!!!

OberklasseA8

On my car, it broke completely! It still shifts gears fine, just need to go slow.. Glad I found this thread in case I want to repair. Nice pictures in this thread..

maxandtara

Flawless45,

The one in the picture at amazon looks like the one MainleyA8 procured

What do you think is causing yours to malfunction?

maxandtara

Trim piece
Turning on the ignition, allowed to easily move the gear shifter so its not in the way of the trim piece

Gearshift ****,
I saw some instructions that said pull on the release button.
I don't know if it really helps, but I did anyway and wiggled the **** as I pulled.
The **** came out with medium difficulty.

Tabs
Start from the outside in.
Tabs release towards the outside
Start with the 4 corners handle with finesse.




start with these corner , take your time.

Middle 4 corners from the top push out.. you may a click when it releases


push out ... you may hear a slight click

Middle tabs... Push out and when the lock releases you should be able to lift that side.



Push out to release and side will lift...

Assembly... starting from the outside coming in give you more free play.
Those narrow long tabs can easily snap....

With all four corners aligned, those inner tabs should easily lock-in by putting a little pressure on the plastic pieces...

maxandtara

Concerns about the magnets.

You can easily switch... the inner sliding piece with the square magnet from the side or slipping it in from the inside.



Lift and slide in...if you do it this way

I compared the old and the new... (Chinese ones..they are about 2mm taller.)
I popped out both round magnets.

The oem are a lot smaller than the Chinese ones. The shroud/casing of the oem fits into the space of the bigger magnet.

I filed down shroud of the new shifter cover by about 2mm

I sliced up the oem magnet from the plastic base... Dabbed a little epoxy and slipped the magnet into place. The shroud is a good shim instead of just depending on epoxy.

Put some dielectric grease/silicone on those connectors.

I started the car to allow me to move the shifter as I am putting it in place.

The shifter position in the dash all lighted up. I guess this happens when car is confused by the position of the shifter.

After everything is in place, everything works as expected.

The gear shifter indicator on the dash matches the shifter position.

flawless45

maxandtara,

So my issue must have happened during the first replacement, looks to be an issue with the electronic part of that shifter. I unplugged it completely and it is still doing the same thing. I did install the new Audi part which does look better but functionally is the same. Most likely will be on the hunt for a new/used part after I finish moving.

I apologize for the huge pictures.


The OEM part is on the left, Amazonia on right.

I think this is what I need to replace now.

Installed the same as original.

Still only shows PRNDS the entire time and no manual mode.

dvs_dave

Are you sure you didn’t accidentally dislodge the circuit board in the shifter? It’s held down by clips but can easily get unclipped during the job. This results in the circuit board moving away from the magnets which will render the hall sensors non-functional. You will need to unclip the aluminum trim piece to get to it.

I did some SSP diving and there is a physical connection to the transmission via a cable that does PRNDS. However tiptronic/manual shifting is 100% drive-by-wire and is completely controlled by the shifter strip magnets and circuit board hall sensors. No physical connection.

When in PRNDS, the hall sensors control the shifter LED’s. However it will throw a fault code if the hall sensor readings don’t correspond with the physical shifter position.

Panelhead

I replaced mine without any pictures. Tried to install the strip upside down, was hanging up. It has been many years and still looks good. Original was about same age and falling apart.
The updated part numbered item may be longer lasting.
BTW was impressed once I saw how it worked. Audi seemed to be on their game in this design.

maxandtara

flawless45,
I bought a shifter for the cover, if I still have it and if you want it its yours. I have not tested it for functionality. Pay for the shipping or mail me a label.

Let me know if you want it so I will hunt it down. I will let you know one way or the other if I still have it.

The easiest fix will be to buy a shifter from ebay, it was just around $50 the last time I looked. They are cheap and there are a lot of them because these parts don't really break down.

Just in case the part they send you does not work; you can easily get a refund.

dart