What is the phase position of the intake camshaft for the Volkswagen Magotan?
2 Answers
For the Volkswagen Magotan, the normal phase position of the intake camshaft is 1.3mm. The function of the Camshaft Position (CMP) sensor is to transmit the position of the camshaft (the relative position of the valves) to the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in the form of a voltage signal. The role of the camshaft position sensor is to relay the operational status of the cylinders to the ECU for sequential fuel injection control, ignition timing control, and knock control. If the vehicle experiences symptoms such as difficulty starting, unstable idling, engine shaking, weak acceleration, increased fuel consumption, or a continuously illuminated malfunction indicator light, it may indicate a fault in the camshaft position sensor. The working principle of the camshaft position sensor involves detecting the position and rotation angle of the camshaft to determine the top dead center position of the first cylinder's piston during compression. During startup, the engine ECU uses signals from the camshaft position sensor and the crankshaft position sensor to identify the position and stroke of each cylinder's piston, controlling the fuel injection sequence and ignition order for precise fuel injection and ignition control.
I've seen quite a few Magotan owners asking about this at auto repair shops. The intake camshaft phase position actually doesn't have a fixed value. It works like a smart regulator that automatically adjusts based on throttle input. During cold starts, it might be around -5 degrees, and returns to near 0 degrees at idle once the engine reaches normal operating temperature. If you check with a diagnostic scanner, you'll notice it can rotate to over 20 degrees when accelerating. Recently I worked on a car throwing P0016 code - the reading was stuck at 15 degrees without movement, and we found stretched timing chain had misaligned the timing after disassembly. Remember not to obsess over specific numbers, the key is observing whether it responds smoothly during dynamic operation.
