No, i thought you had an 01 engine for a minute, its for the variable valve timing.
Go ahead and skip to step 2 then and check the oil pressure when you can.

 

Ill have to buy a gauge tomorrow. Thanks for the help so far. What are good oil pressure #'s at 2 and 4k rpm's?

 

I wonder if the fluttering noise I was showing you the one day is a cam chain noise! Thanks for starting this thread, it gave me some things to look at as well!

 

I dont know, but at least your fluttering noise doesnt make your engine sound like a pos! Sounds like there are marbles bouncing around in my intake mani [&:]
Im going to try to get a sound clip again from my laptop/mic just to see if I can pick up on it better.

 

This is from the repair manual.


Check oil pressure



–
Disconnect wire from oil pressure switch.









–
Remove oil pressure switch and screw in oil pressure tester -VAG1342-.



–
Thread oil pressure switch -2- into -VAG1342-.



–
Start engine (engine oil temperature approx. 80°C).



l
Oil pressure at idling speed: at least 1.0 bar



l
Oil pressure at 3000 rpm: 3.5 to 4.5 bar



If specified values are not attained:



–
Pressure relief valve or oil pump faulty, replace oil pump →Chapter.

 

This isn't the area you are talking about, butI had a wierd noise kindof like that, that I had a hard time locating, also sounded like the intake mani. It turns out it was 2 loosend nuts on my exhaust manifold, when I would rev it the heat closed up the gap.
Just though I'd give my 2 cents.

 

Also possible.

 

Much better (You can really hear it clearly towards the end when I was holding the mic right under the throtle body area, but it still seems to stem from under the valve cover. Sorry for the muffled mic, I was moving it around to different spots on the engine, this is anuncompressed mp3:


Link

 

Sounds like a cam chain tensioner [8D]
Definately check the oil pressure now, and pull the valve cover for cam lobe/bearing wear.

 

If a cam chain tensioner is bad can it cause lobe/bearing wear? Ill try to get a gauge tomorrow and test it before I change my oil/go to the track.