`94 1.8 Driver - Fault code/issue ABS engine

[BugsyMalone666]

since I did the cambelt on my car 2 odd years ago (along with a different exhaust/airfilter) i been finding that my fuel economy has never really been that great.

after much trying to work out what was up (as i knew 100% both the cam and crank were correctly lined up) it would appear that somehow I moved the intermediate shaft which runs the oil pump/distributor round by 1/2 teeth when refitting the cambelt. at the time i manually reset the distributor to get a 4-8 deg reading with a strobe gun and thought nothing more of it.

2 years pass and in september i did the cambelt again, realising the error I had made so i set all 3 cam wheels 100% correct and fitted a new cambelt. I then set the distributor exactly how the book said so all the marks lined up. It ran like a heap of Sh*t so once again using the strobe I manually set it at 6 deg BTDC the car ran great but still i havent seen as near 40mpg as i would like which it did when i first got it, averages only ever get as high as 35mpg max!

now I recently bought a VAGCOM type cable which comes with shareware version of the software, today I got it working and the car reports the following fault code:

00515 - Camshaft position (hall) Sensor (G40)
03-00 - No Signal

(think thats right)

so i had a further look onthe internet and everything seems to indicate the hall sensor being the pickup thing in the distributor? or is there another sensor? i dont understant why there would be no signal as the car runs!

is there something else I need to do or can someone give me some guidance as to the next steps?

[Dollso]

that error will come up 3 seconds after the engine has stopped running, so yeah you will always get that fault code with the ignition switched on and the engine not running. you can run the fault reader with the engine running, but you need to hit the 'Select' button rather than the 'Auto-Scan' Then hit the '01- Engine' button, then the do the fault reading from there (with the engine running). you should then get 'no faults found' if you still get the hall sender fault then you have an error.. you should get hold of the ElsaWin software to use with the Vag-com and try and find a cracked version on Vag-com 409 to fully check the car. I have a 1.8 Driver (ADZ) and motorway I get around 35 MPG, city about 20 MPG... which I think is bad but had no idea it was that bad if I should be getting 40mpg!! I also find my 1.8 lacks acceleration, you don't notice it driving around town, but on joining motorways is just scary! I originally thought it was just my imagination due to the fact I have only ridden 1 lt sports bikes for the last 4 years, but last night a mk3 1.4 polo blew me off joining the motorway!

[BugsyMalone666]

Ah right i didnt know that, I gave the cable a second try and supprisingly enough no fault codes!

im still a bit baffled about the fuel consumption, as in the first 6 months of owning the car MPG was 35-40mpg on a run(180 miles) with a highest of 42MPG! then i serviced it. now i do drive a little faster but even when i did do a limited to 70ish the whole way for 220 miles still fuel consumption only reached as high as 35mpg, it only ever averages 32mpg, round town/local driving i get about 25mpg.

I have done some data logging with VAGCOM and got some results:

Car at warmed up to 90deg C:

800rpm
timing = 6deg BTDC
Lambda Factor = 1.016 - 1.055
1000rpm
timing = 20deg BTDC
Lambda Factor = 1.023 - 1.137
1500rpm
timing = 26deg BTDC
Lambda Factor = 0.977 - 1.043
2000rpm
timing = 33deg BTDC
Lambda Factor = 1.055 - 1.078
2500rpm
timing = 38deg BTDC
Lambda Factor = 1.097 - 1.137

to me it all the various readouts seemed to indicate all is fine, anyone got a data sheet or similar information to compair against?

there is also a reading "T.B Angle" i was wonder what that relates to?

[BugsyMalone666]

I also find my 1.8 lacks acceleration, you don't notice it driving around town, but on joining motorways is just scary! I originally thought it was just my imagination due to the fact I have only ridden 1 lt sports bikes for the last 4 years, but last night a mk3 1.4 polo blew me off joining the motorway!

do you find that acceleration lacks totally until you get to 3500 then it acts a bit like its got a turbo (only one without any boost lol) and suddenly power starts to arrive? I know that to start with when i had the car set up to the Haynes manual it was like that until I realised the timing seemed to be out, then i set the dizzy up using a timing gun(which i was told isnt the right way to do ti but it works) so at idle i was getting an approx 6deg BTDC firing point, then acceleration would be apparent all the way through the rev range. the way to make it really go is to get the needle round to 6k lol the upper end is where the power seems to be at, but if its really really sluggish upto 3/3.5k then it suddenly seems to go, i`d check it with a timing gun and see what readings you get :)

[Dollso]

had a look today and noticed the clip on the accelerator cable is missing and the cable is slowly moving forward, so that's the problem I had on the motorway! The car feels underpowered all the time throughout the rev range, actually less power over 3500.

I did the same checks but just at idle and my results were:

- idle: 775/800/825 then back to 775 etc..
- Lambda Factor: 1.062~1.096.
- inj period: 1.56~1.71.
- Engine load: 31.6~33.7.
- throttle valve angle: 3.3.
- ignition timing 4~8 (6.0 with engine stopped).
- Lambda correction: 1.098~1.120.
- mixture correction: 9.8%.

I have ElsaWin (the official VW program) and according to that you do use a gun to set timing.. but unfortunately it doesn't tell you what the readings above equate to..

Getting new accelerator cable tomorrow, going to check the timing, change the distributor cap and arm when the rain eases off..

I don't want to risk revving the car past 4.5~5 as it's got 146K on the clock lol and I'm more concerned about the MPG, I filled up (£46 worth) last week and drove round the Antrim coast and back via motorway, did 210 miles on half a tank (35 MPG), got just over 100 miles out of the second half (17 MPG) driving to work and back in the city, and I work outside of peak times so was never sitting in traffic (310 miles to full tank = 25 MPG)