# P0012 Camshaft A: Advance Setpoint not Reached



## LeifG (Apr 25, 2007)

Well, I have searched on the tex and other places and have not found any particular "answer" for my current engine code: P0012 Bank 1: Camshaft A (Intake): Advance Setpoint not Reached (Over-Retarded).
I have seen everything from "Your timing belt is f*&k'd" to "Your cam tensioner is failing" to "It could just a be 'phantom' code"...
I have checked the timing belt, it looks fine, it was replaced about 35,000 miles ago. The only work that has been done on the car within the past few days was the t-stat was replaced, did an oil change, replaced the push down coil packs with the bolt down Hitachi "E" coil packs and installed new spark plugs.
I have noticed, as of this morning, that between 2700 to 3200 rpm there is a distinct (but not loud) "buzzing" sound coming from the engine. During acceleration it gets increasingly noticable until about 3200 rpm and then it goes away completely. I wonder if the VVT adjuster is getting stuck from age, lack of oil flow, etc...?
Once I get a new valve cover gasket, I will be pulling the cover to see if anything is apparent. Just looking to see if anyone has had this code before and was able to clear it. I have seen plenty of "speculation" from the searching, but nothing seems too concrete as to the most plausible solution. Also, a lot of posts have noted several other codes, which I am not getting. As of last night, I only had the P0012.
BTW, the car idles very smooth, no problems with acceleration and it cruises with no problems (other than the new 'buzzing' sound, which you wouldn't even hear if the radio was on).
TIA


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## LeifG (Apr 25, 2007)

Pulled the valve cover this afternoon and did not find anything that "looked" wrong. The cam chain adjuster was intact and looked fine. The timing marks all lined up correctly, so the TB had not skipped a tooth, besides I would have thought that if it had skipped a tooth the car would have been running worse and it has actually been running even better with the new bolt down coil packs I installed. I also counted 16 links between the cam gears, which per the bentley manual, that is correct.
The P0012 code has not resurfaced after about 100 miles of driving, guess it was a fluke?...








Some pictures:


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## MY05GLI (Oct 8, 2004)

*Re: P0012 Camshaft A: Advance Setpoint not Reached (LeifG)*

here check this, it might help: http://www.audizine.com/forum/...46569


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## LeifG (Apr 25, 2007)

*Re: P0012 Camshaft A: Advance Setpoint not Reached (MY05GLI)*

Thanks! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Wish that post on audizine was there two days ago.


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## EF9Si (Dec 12, 2003)

*Re: (LeifG)*

http://www.passatworld.com/for...15732


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## O_Matt (May 7, 2007)

oops, sorry.  

I was trying to link to this thread and accidentally posted in it...


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## Spahr123 (Aug 22, 2013)

*P0012*



LeifG said:


> Well, I have searched on the tex and other places and have not found any particular "answer" for my current engine code: P0012 Bank 1: Camshaft A (Intake): Advance Setpoint not Reached (Over-Retarded).
> I have seen everything from "Your timing belt is f*&k'd" to "Your cam tensioner is failing" to "It could just a be 'phantom' code"...
> I have checked the timing belt, it looks fine, it was replaced about 35,000 miles ago. The only work that has been done on the car within the past few days was the t-stat was replaced, did an oil change, replaced the push down coil packs with the bolt down Hitachi "E" coil packs and installed new spark plugs.
> I have noticed, as of this morning, that between 2700 to 3200 rpm there is a distinct (but not loud) "buzzing" sound coming from the engine. During acceleration it gets increasingly noticable until about 3200 rpm and then it goes away completely. I wonder if the VVT adjuster is getting stuck from age, lack of oil flow, etc...?
> ...


 This code is usually caused by oil starvation due to a partially clogged oil pick up tube this common on 1.8 turbo and will interfere with the oil pressure needed to control the cam adjuster since the cam timing is controlled by a solenoid that depends on oil pressure you need to check oil pressure then most likely replace oil pick up tube and flush motor I ope this helps you


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## Spahr123 (Aug 22, 2013)

*P0012*

This is usually a oil starvation problem that can come and go at first these 1.8 turbos exhibit this issue a lot the turbo system causes sludge in the turbo cooler lines wich gets in the pan then gets sucked into the oil pick up tube cuasingthe oil pressure to be lower this in turn effects cam timing actuator becuase it depends on good oil pressure to function properly the common fix is to replace oil pick up tube becuase there is a screen in the end of it that gets clogged up and then flush motor. I hope this helps you


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## sblindorff (Oct 30, 2020)

I have an ‘02 Passat 1.8t with the awm engine code… So my question for anyone that has any clue is: why has my car only popped this code 2 times? The first being approx. 5 or 6 months ago.. and I had checked everything and the timing still appeared to be lined up so I cleared the code… and then the other time it popped it was yesterday afternoon… I did replace the oil pump and the pickup tube about 1 1/2 years ago and then I replaced the oil cam tensioner right before it had popped this code the first time (and only other time it has) but I had been told it was probably because the it was getting oil up to the tensioner and so when it hadn’t popped the code again for a while afterwards I became less and less Leary about driving it. So is it just going to start popping up more and more regularly until I go in and change out both of those parts again?


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