# possible for cam to be 180 degrees off?



## kilabeez0 (Jan 14, 2006)

Replaced cam timing sensor. Put timing belt back on and started car. Only runs on 2 cylinders, throwing code P0341 cam timing sensor. I'm wondering if that maybe when I had the timing belt off, I rotated the cam sprocket 360 degrees while the crank remained untouched. If I put the timing belt back on in that situation, is the cam 180 degrees off? With the crank accesory sprocket on the cam sprocket turns twice to the cranks 1 turn. So could my timing be totally off resulting in 2 cylinders not running? I pulled the plug wires off of both sides of the coil and the motor stayed running the same. This is even with putting a brand new coil on because i thought that was the problem!!:banghead:


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## tdogg74 (Mar 1, 2002)

Your distributor is WAY off. Retime the motor from scratch.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?4966749-TECH-Timing-the-MKIII-2.0


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## kilabeez0 (Jan 14, 2006)

i dont have a distributor on my MKIV


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## greyhare (Dec 24, 2003)

kilabeez0 said:


> Replaced cam timing sensor. Put timing belt back on and started car. Only runs on 2 cylinders, throwing code P0341 cam timing sensor. I'm wondering if that maybe when I had the timing belt off, *I rotated the cam sprocket 360 degrees while the crank remained untouched.* If I put the timing belt back on in that situation, is the cam 180 degrees off? *With the crank accesory sprocket on the cam sprocket turns twice to the cranks 1 turn.* So could my timing be totally off resulting in 2 cylinders not running? I pulled the plug wires off of both sides of the coil and the motor stayed running the same. This is even with putting a brand new coil on because i thought that was the problem!!:banghead:


360 degrees is one full turn, it is where it started.

The crank turns two times (720 deg) for one turn of the cam (360 deg).


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## rommeldawg (May 25, 2009)

well if you have all three marks lined up it should be timed correctly... you have cam to valve cover, crank gear notch to back cover punch mark then flywheel to pointer. these engines are interference engines... so if you were that far out and ran the car you most likely bent a valve. if you think your timing is correct you should take a compression test of each cylinder.


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## kilabeez0 (Jan 14, 2006)

rommeldawg said:


> well if you have all three marks lined up it should be timed correctly... you have cam to valve cover, crank gear notch to back cover punch mark then flywheel to pointer. these engines are interference engines... so if you were that far out and ran the car you most likely bent a valve. if you think your timing is correct you should take a compression test of each cylinder.


 will my automatic have this flywheel mark? i dont see anything in my manual. anyone have any pics?


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## [email protected] (Aug 25, 2010)

yea 180* out is quite interesting...i've done it before :laugh:


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## kilabeez0 (Jan 14, 2006)

[email protected] said:


> yea 180* out is quite interesting...i've done it before :laugh:


did it only run on 2 cylinders?????


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## rommeldawg (May 25, 2009)

yes an automatic will have the marks on the flywheel also


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## [email protected] (Aug 25, 2010)

kilabeez0 said:


> did it only run on 2 cylinders?????


i was surprised it ran and got me home! 

Now the best way to reset the timing would be to pull the belt off and rotate the crank 90* out/away from TDC (do the screwdriver trick to make sure cyl *1* is coming up for TDC. At that point spin the cam to it's TDC mark and then spin the crank up to TDC...reinstall the belt being careful to not turn the crank/cam...you may have to turn both the crank and cam back a degree or two to make sure the right side/long side of the belt is tight when you install it. After that adjust and tighten the roller tensioner and spin motor with a socket wrench to make sure everything still lines up.


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## jorge r (Apr 27, 2006)

The only way to know is to check the timing marks. Whenever you mess around with timing components, set your crank to no.1 tdc and double the timing after messing with its components.
You may have done the job right and trouble is something else, for now the timing should be verified. Give a little more info on your engine


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## kilabeez0 (Jan 14, 2006)

jorge r said:


> The only way to know is to check the timing marks. Whenever you mess around with timing components, set your crank to no.1 tdc and double the timing after messing with its components.
> You may have done the job right and trouble is something else, for now the timing should be verified. Give a little more info on your engine


well timing seems good i dont get it. car is a 99.5 jetta MKIV. It has been sitting for about a year and 3 months so i know the gas is bad, but i dont think it would cause it to get no spark on 2 cylinders.


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## rommeldawg (May 25, 2009)

how did you verify that youre not getting spark? no fuel or bad compression can also cause a misfire so verify compression, spark and that the injectors are functioning correctly, getting pulse and fuel


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## kilabeez0 (Jan 14, 2006)

i pulled the spark plug boot off of one of the plugs not firing, put a spare plug in it and let it run. no spark like i said the gas is over a year old, but it still doesn't explain the spark issue. and the ONLY code it's throwing is p0341 cam sensor.


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## jorge r (Apr 27, 2006)

Maybe if you remove the coil pack and clean it up shiny so you have clean tight electrical connection to ground. Then if it still has the spark problem, use an led test light on the coil wiring harness to detect the signal from the ecm.


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## Glegor (Mar 31, 2008)

rommeldawg said:


> well if you have all three marks lined up it should be timed correctly... you have cam to valve cover, crank gear notch to back cover punch mark then flywheel to pointer. these engines are interference engines... so if you were that far out and ran the car you most likely bent a valve. if you think your timing is correct you should take a compression test of each cylinder.


VW 8v engines in stock form are non-interference engines, unless you have a camshaft to open the valves farther.

we had a very heated discussion about this one time, and i was proven so wrong it wasnt funny..


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## rommeldawg (May 25, 2009)

the later cars are interference , not sure about aba but my avh is , thats how i got it came into the shop with 2 of the eight bent.


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## FL 2.0L (Aug 1, 2002)

Did you look at both the driveplate and cam gear marks?


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