Just bought a 2001 A4/B5 Quattro 1.8T. The CEL light came on and I'm getting an intermittent miss (like 5-6 times in 300 miles). Code says Cam position sensor is bad.

From reading here it seems it could either be the sensor or the timing belt not being properly aligned when it was installed.

My question is this; if it was the timing belt wouldn't the miss be more consistent since the issue is a constant?

Just looking for opinions. I purchased the car as a dealer trade in so the timing belt history is an unknown. I know I need to change it some day soon just for peace of mind (135k miles on the car). However, there are a few signs that tell me the front cover was off the engine in the past, so it is likely not the original belt....hence the question.

TIA,
Bob

 

I had to change this sensor twice. I took it in and had the bad sensor changed, then about a week later the code came back. I had the sensor changed out again and then the code went away. One way to check to see which sensor it is, is to change the position of the 2 sensors and see if the code moves. If the code does change then you know which sensor is bad. Hope this helps, that CEL is annoying.

 

Thanks Copper. I changed the sensor and it started throwing code right away, verses the old one that only did after days of driving.

I learned a few things since the original post. 1) The timing belt is only 12000 miles old and 2) it is not aligned correctly.

Next question, in order to reset the belt do I need to pull the whole front off the car as if I was changing the belt or is there a better (easier) way?

Thanks

 

I have not changed a timing belt, but I would suspect that you would need to take the belt completely off and reinstall it.