Bringing this back from the dead as there is golden info here.
This is a reference of what JWT posted. Moving forward everyone should pay attention to these while you're in there.
Though I have theory on how to fix a slipped ring without removing the cover it will be a one time/very difficult thing to perform and it would not guarantee to fix it.

 

Looking back at some of my old pictures for documentation purposes does anyone know if this is the alignment slot for the encoder ring?
This info will help others in the future determine solutions for this pesky problem

 

what is your other theory to fix it? just curious as i think i may be going through this rn

 

I'm going through this right now as well. Initially I thought it was a crank sensor/wiring/damaged signal plate tooth but got that resolved.

Now, When I have bank 2 cam sensor plugged in. It won't start. When I unplug the sensor it starts up in limp mode.
But the engine idles very smoothly you don't know it's a problem untill you try to rev it past 3k rpm and it won't let you.

I'm also interested in your theory to fix it without taking the timing cover off...

I have attached a photo of the captured signal of the 2 cam sensors and 1 crank at idle 800RPM.


cam 1 at top
cam 2 middle
Crank last


But I don't know if this spec data is supposed to match 1:1 .

 

Once of your cam position / encoder has slipped.
Since the engine won't run with bank 2 cam position sensor plugged in, that encoding ring has slipped.
As others have done, you can move it back to the proper position as a temporary fix.

You could try cleaning up where the encoder ring connects to the cam phaser and apply some loctite Red.

 

So I found out bank 2 encoder ring has moved CCW by 2 teeth from the dot at TDC. I knocked the ring back to teeth #7 and clear all fault codes by disconnecting battery. The car started right up no hesitation or delay. Haven't heard it start up so smoothly like this since the problem started.

Do you know if anyone here found a permanent fix to stop the ring from moving? Can it be weld at the mating lip where the encoder ring ID sits on top of the cam OD? Or any solution besides doing a whole cam sprocket assembly replacement?

 

How did you end up knocking the ring back into its correct position? Did you remove the phaser from the engine, or did you do it with everything still attached? Did you remove the ring and press it back on, or did you just tap it around with a punch? Any details would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

also trying to figure out if I can literally just move the ring back into place and the car will work perfectly fine