littleyellowbat

I have a 94 100CS avant that just developed an odd problem. Just started the car yesterday and a bunch of things just did not work. Could not find any blown fuses in the fuse box. These things did not work:

headlights
fog lights
wipers
entire HVAC display and operation
windows
outside temp readout
turn signals
Maybe other stuff as well...

Car starts fine..dash lights work...

Is there a high current fuse somewhere that could have blown? Im really at a loss on where to start troubleshooting this. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Ben2

Your ignition switch is bad (the electrical portion not the mechanical). Replace it any everything will work fine. $40 switch, 1 hour job.

Ben2

Also, don't drive it until it's fixed as your cooling fans aren't coming on. It's not worth overheating your engine and cracking the block, blowing a head gasket, burning a valve, etc.

littleyellowbat

Thanks for the suggestion, and quick response. It makes sense that it is the ignition switch. I noticed that Audi had a recall on this part and the description of the symptoms of a faulty one fall in line with what I'm experiencing.

Ordering one tomorrow.

Will start getting the steering wheel etc. off tomorrow. Hopefully its not to tricky to get to this thing...

Ben2

There's a how to in the QW FAQ:

http://forums.quattroworld.com/a6100/msgs/11210.phtml

Ben2

I hate that this board doesn't have an edit feature:

Adding: you don't need to do anything with your steering wheel but drop it to the lowest tilt position. If I were you I'd order a complete set of light bulbs and replace them all (including the soldered-in ones in the gear indicator and outside temp display if you don't mind a small amount of easy soldering) while you have the I/P out. I didn't do this when I replaced my ignition switch and I had to take it back apart a year later and do it right after half of them burnt out. There's full instructions elsewhere in the QW FAQ.

ecapox

Thanks!

This just happened to me this morning. I felt something different when i turned on the car last night. It seemed as if the key didnt come back to its resting position after started the car. I thought to myself. Nah, im just seeing things. Well, get in the car this morning and no wipers, hazards, lights, windows, turn signals, etc.

Thanks to the people that write these FAQs and even more important, where to find them after they are written.