aron in toronto

Can't totally confirm or disprove your theory, but many have said their key felt sloppy, difficult to turn or difficult to remove and the electrical portion of the switch was to blame. In my case I had no issues until one day I removed the key and the motor did not shut off. I replaced just the ~$9 part (I paid $45 at the Audi dealer, as I was in a bind) and it solved my car's problem. When the electrical portion starts to fail some have experienced random electrical gremlins that effected their lights, radio, and/or HVAC.

IIRC the problem is with the plastic “socket” at the end of the switch cracking and allowing the inserted key to turn without fully engaging or turning the switch.

At $9 I’d recommend replacing the electrical portion of the switch first to see if it solves the problem and if not then go ahead and look at replacing the more complex locking assembly.

fpena944

Not true...In my case the key literally got stuck in the ignition and I was unable to remove it without some force. I was then able to get the key to work a bit better by lubricating the key.

I then replaced only the electrical component and now it works as designed. I'm not sure why the little switch would affect the mechanical operation of the key but it does.

Hardback

I can confirm that the key will get stuck if the electronic switch goes bad. It happened to me twice. Replace the switch with help from DIY forum and the ignition will feel new again. Amazing what a difference it makes when the switch is replaced. The switch has numerous functions. When it goes bad your radio or ac may not turn off which will kill the battery. But the biggest problem (aside from not starting) is the inability to lock the car. The switches cost between 9-12 buck audi or VW part if i remember correctly. On a DIY scale from 1 being easy and 10 being difficult. Id give it a 2 as you have to get upside down in the footwell and remove some ductwork. If your a big guy like me this can be troublesome but not impossible. Good luck with the next one!

ivangene

OK - good to know.. I took my camera to work so I hope to grab a video of the inner workings this afternoon and show what causes the "entire assy" to not work.

sounds like the first course of action should always be the cheap part!!

AndyK

I'll try replacing the electrical portion myself since I already have the part. My ignition experience is like sticking the key in, and turning it in play dough. Electrical portion, or no?

fpena944

In my experience it was...Replace it and see if it helps. If not you're only out 30 minutes of time and at least you're certain it's the expensive part of it that's broken.

cs jeff

Replaced mine a year ago or so. The only hard part was getting my body contorted to fit upside down under the steering wheel. Then you have to have a very small screw driver to remove 2 small screws holding the switch in place. You swap in the new part and tighten the 2 screws, then pull yourself out. The DIY shows pics to give you a visual, but it's really as easy as they say.

ivangene

OK - many of you know I missed my calling,...should have been a video producer

WTF did I do wrong here?
anyhow, as you can see if you squint just right... the part I am pushing with my thumb is the locking pin. where my thumb is, there is a cover with a spring to do the work so your car doesnt have to have me pushing that silly thing in....
the rotating part is your key... the "cam" I spoke of forces the locking pin towards the camera.. but is not designed to push the locking pin back in (that is the job of the spring and is why you can remove the key with the locking pin still not locked.... and why when you turn the wheel the pin springs into the hole locking the wheel)

So that little pin on the side somehow is allowed to travel "too far" and gets "stuck" outside its normal operating possition. Several tries and on occation it goes back... but mostly not. The part I have in my have has very obvious wear on the "wrong" area from that pin... it finally gave up and left the owner stuck.

I dont see how the electrical unit has anything to do with this - its like there are separate issues and if the electrical part fixes your key issue then there must be some tumblers in there that wear and lock the key in place or something.

Sorry for the poor vid, I really do suck at camera work

redridge

I dont know why but this is all you need.... something gets effed up in this piece. Somehow, this electrical part is getting the key stuck and thats where it really goes down hill.

Ed, what you are talking about is somewhat related with this piece.... somehow, replacing this piece, solves the problem very easily. Is there another piece thats attaches to this thing?

ivangene

since I took it apart wrong I cant bve sure, but the cam lock might actually slide in and out as well...I agree that the cheap part is first line of repair and many people say it fixes the problem.

still dealers are replacing the entire assy to the tune of $400 a pop...I cant explain it and will keep trying to put the puzzle together. My point is that there are inner workings that "could" cause a sticking issue and if the part shown above does not repair the problem.... know the assembly is fairly complicated, and made out or pot metal, and "CAN" wear.... maybe wear out???

aron in toronto

Ha Ha! interesting video.
I can't quite orient myself to with the part I'm looking at but it doesn't look like the electrical portion of the switch so I'm guessing your issue is greater/different than the "typical" ignition switch failure. It may very well be a common failure mode, just one that I'm not familiar with but I admit that I'm no expert in this field, just more of a lucky (this time) DIYer.

The problem (or one of the problems) with the electrical portion of the switch is the plastic (white socket at small end) cracks preventing the electrical portion from fully seating or engaging with the mechanical portion of the switch when the key is inserted and turned, preventing various electrical connections/equipment from powering up or down properly. It also seems to cause the "sloppy" feeling when the key is turned.

As I mentioned in a previous post I didn't experience this "sloppy" or rough key action. I was simply able to remove my key w/o the motor turning off which is not the usual mode of failure, but if you look closely at the pic of my old switch you can see that the white plastic socket is not broken, worn or enlarged as most seem to be over time, so I think some how it must have simply come disengaged enough from the mechanical portion of the switch to cause the problem. Since it appears to be in OK shape I'll just keep it around as a back up if the current one ever goes on the fritz.

old electrical portion of the switch - it seems the different revisions of the switch are different colors see white bodied switch shown by Redridge


White plastic socket at end of switch that gets worn or cracks - yellow on Redridge's pic


Part Number from Audi dealer ~$45 CDN


Small screw driver I used to remove the set screws holding the switch in place.


One tip I can pass on to others that are going to replace this switch that will make the work much less uncomfortable is to place a small step stool (or similar) on the ground next to (& the same height as) the threshold of the car when the door is open and then lay a cushion over the stool and threshold to lay on when you squeeze your torso and head under the dash to access the switch. Sounds strange but hopefully will become obvious when trying to get into a comfortable position to get at the switch.

ivangene

anyone not agree this is a really good thread on the ignition switch

Hardback

Yeah, electrical portion should fix this problem.

+1 on tryin the cheap part first.

AndyK

I'll try it this weekend, now that I got the tip about removing the air vent on the side!

Marc Gelefsky

Hey Andy, you should come to a Cars & croissants one of these days!