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What about asking some of your neighbors' kids that hotrod these VAG's?

Seriously, I'm amazed what a following these 4 bangers have. Javad Shadzi over at 034Motorsports is an authority on them - it might be worth a phone call?

I'm going to have to do something.

I played with the cams a bit today and found that advancing the intake 4 teeth got the compression up to pretty good in all 4 cylinder and by coincidence is how the cams naturally sit......but it ran just awful like that. Same result I got when I powered the cam actuator.

The fact the compression came up confirms all it well with the valves and pistons as the leak-down had indicated and says the only thing that can be wrong is cam timing. This is very strange.....I can't understand why compression is so sensitive to intake position with cams as mild as these are.

I think I can figure out where the cams actually are without getting inside the engine using the lead-down tester. That's next I guess.

I think today I solved the mystery. My engine has an intake cam with 6 lobes the same and 2 different. The pictures I find online of VW 2.0 TSI cams have 8 lobes all the same. I need to pop mine back apart but the pic look like the lobes are pressed on. I had 6 very bent and 2 lightly bend valves....I think 2 lobes spun and that's why I can't find a happy place for the cam timing.

Today I pulled the cam, pressed off the 2 offending lodes, used a straight edge to line them up with the non-offending lobes, pressed them back on, put it back together. Success! It drives nice and no check engine light.

I think it's finally done.

Wow.....congratulations! Who'd a thunk it?

Well done, those Germans are just too clever for their own good.

Now back to the other engine..

John

Nicely done, now sell it!

I know Mahle uses a thermal shrink-fit on the cam lobes, no idea if they make the VW camshafts.

My wife has a VW as well, the new jetta TDi. I sprung for one additional warranty/insurance that pretty much covers just about anything stupid she could manage! trust me she's done some wild things to all her cars! Her old Honda CRX seized the engine and caught fire because the oil light didn't get either brighter or blink to let her know it was a real problem

Hope that thing wasn't diesel... Then again it might explain a few thing!