09/03/2026
2011 GTI came in as a problem car. Customer said that he bought it from the previous owner with a timing fault stored. They were told the timing was already done but the fault remained. He brought it over and we had a timing over advanced fault stored with a very long crank. After removing the timing covers all timing marks lined up perfectly. With everything off we found that the intake cam and cam position sensor are new too so there have been many attempts to fix the issue. With the cam chain removed there is a window to see the cylinder 1 connecting rod and we noticed that it was definitely not at top dead center. After seeing that the crank gear was removed and there was the problem. Whoever did the timing job last did not correctly install the gear to crankshaft face correctly. Timing chains were correctly installed but since the gear was off it throws everything else off. When checking for timing all marks lined up but the crank was not at TDC. We replaced the sprocket and the balancer since there was damage there too and now the check engine light is off and the car has full power again. We will diagnose any “UNFIXABLE” car out there! Our training and schooling has prepared us to be the best!
