You don't need to tare the front end off just the top timing belt cover and look at the cam sprocket mark and when it lines up with the arrow make sure you crank pulley mark lines up as well

 

oh i see what you meant, the timing chain, yeah you gotta pull the valve cover for that part. best of luck and let us know what you find.

 

Don't you have to pull the bumper, radiator, etc to see the crank pully mark?

 

not really. you could probably see it from up up, but it wouldnt be very clear. personally, id go through the 30 minute procedure of taking the front end off. it will make things much much easier in the long run

 

no you don't need to pull anything but the top cover to see the cam marks.

 

Posting this on audi forums must have convinced my car to fix itself. Cel went out by itself the other day and has not come back on yet. Maybe you guys worked some audi Jedi magic on it!

 

Came back on shortly after this and developed a rattle. Eventually replaced the timing chain tensioner but the P0340 remained. After several months I finally figured out that the timing chain that connects the cams was stretched. I replaced the chain and no more code and got some lost power back too. Hope this helps someone in the future.