It could. On the V6, the car will run fine with a bad cam sensor because there is one for each bank and the ECU needs only to correlate one of them with the readings from the crank position sensor to know where everything is positioned. On a 1.8T if the cam sensor craps out the ECU is kind of screwed since it can't compare crank and cam positions. So if the engine will run (and I'm not positive it will without a cam sensor signal), I could easily see it causing the engine to run poorly.

 

So I cleaned the spark plug boots, put in NGKs, checked the camshaft sensor connection, and checked for loose hoses; the problem still remains. Therefore, it's either got to be the camshaft sensor itself or the timing is off.

BTW, I broke the lower cover of the timing belt cover (the plastic cover piece). If it turns out to be the cam sensor and I don't have to pull the front bumper off again, can I leave the lower timing belt cover off? Is this safe?

 

There's a MTC cam sensor for $33, a bosh for $100, and a genuine audi one for $142. Is the cheap MTC version good enough or should I really get the bosh or audi one?

 

So what ever happened ? You fix it?