Balance Shaft off about 180 degrees.....

[TSIJUNKIE]

What's up everyone, I practically live on this site after purchasing a TSI last week. It has high milage but only had one single owner that kept the paper work for everything little thing. I have been doing some research on changing the timing belt. I have read the VFAQ and other past topics, but today as I was reading about one guys problem I thought to myself let me ask this question. My mechanic and I will be changing all belts including the timing belt, timing belt tensionor and getting rid of the balance shaft. My question is I have read that people have gotten their timing belts replaced professionally and after getting their car back, it runs rough due to one of the balance shafts being out of phase by 180 degrees. Which balance shaft that is out of phase would be causing this problem? Second, if I remove the balance shaft, would I have to worry about making sure it's aligned with the rest of the marks? Lastly, this is just a comment, but maybe someone can clear this up for me. Since there are two balance shafts for the motor, one internal and one driven by the belt. The eliminator kit gets rid of the internal one, while you take the belt off the other one since it won't be used correct?

 

[ADrewzki]

With the kit, technically you are supposed to get rid of both shafts. That's why they give you a stub for the rear and a plug for the front one. Everyone that has had them removed has had better/higher oil pressure and vibration is supposed to be a downside. I haven't really noticed any more vibration than normal. A big upside is that when timing your engine, the only thing you have to worry about is having piston #1 at TDC and the cam marks line up. No worrying about the oil pump or front balance shaft or anything. I'd say get rid of them both.