First thing I would do is back-off the timing belt tensioner, then remove the timing belt from the camshaft pulley, if you haven't done that yet.
And as long as your notch marks didn't line up, I would loosen both of the cams so that all the pressure is off the valves.
Now you can safely turn the bottom half of the motor all you want to get it back to TDC.

Line up your timing marks on the crank pulley. Lock that into place,
After fixing the 16 roller count issue, tighten the cams back down.
Loosen the camshaft pulley. (usually requires a puller to snap the pulley loose from the camshaft - its taper to taper fit)
with camshaft pulley able to turn freely, but not wobble, re-install timing belt.
Release the timing belt tensioner so it tightens up the belt. Tighten up the camshaft pulley.
Should be good to go.

 

Andreas,
thank you for your response.
I have not touched the timing belt at all; so far was only tensioner and intake cam were removed.
Do you think that everything that you just said is doable by a person without much of experience or should I rather seek help from a professional?

 

For starters, Tomvw has called me out on something that doesn't apply to 1.8(t).
That may be entirely true. I am not savvy to all the workings on a 1.8.
I have worked on V6 Passat's since 1998 and during that whole time I've only torn into one 1.8 engine and that was at the beginning of this year.
So my knowledge to all the specifics on the 1.8 is admittingly limited.

To answer your question, I think if you've gotten this far into it, you can probably handle the rest.
If you get hung up or have any questions on anything, take a breather and post up any questions or concerns you may or might have.
There is enough people here that can and will guide you through any rough patches.

All I can say is that, if you aren't 100% sure of something, ask before doing it.
Don't want to see you make any costly mistakes.

 

Some of what AndreasPassat suggested is only relevant to a V6 and can't be done on a 1.8.

If you are sure that you have the 16 roller count correct, you should be fine.
Remove the spark plugs and carefully turn it to TDC and re-check timing, stop if you encounter unusual resistance.


Check the 16 roller count (1.8 engines) as shown in this Ross Tech Wiki Pic: (Note offset)

 

Assuming you left the exhaust cam in place, simply leave out the intake cam, rotate to TDC, and proceed as normal. (Counting rollers between the two sprockets.)

 

Thank you for all the help! I will work on the car on Saturday.

Correct me if I'm wrong: carefully set TDC with the intake cam and tensioner removed (just exhaust cam in place and loose chain), put everything back together following this tutorial (when I started working on it I only watched some youtube video where the TDC part was skipped)

http://www.passatworld.com/forums/b5-information-base/215732-how-replace-1-8t-cam-chain-tensioner.html

 

As sirwired says, assuming you left the exhaust camshaft alone, then yes you would be correct with your question.

Note comment that PZ suggests, if the intake cam has been taken out, that would be the opportune time to replace the cam seal(s).
The cam seals are less than $5 a piece, and as long as your in there...

 

Since Ill be working on it tomorrow morning and to avoid messing up I want to triple check everything:

could someone guide me on how to properly set TDC? Easiest way to access crank, how to make sure that I am at right TDC - is it just by looking at marks and the notch on the exhaust cam in my situation as I have intake cam removed? etc.
I ve tried to search for a tutorial on that, but couldnt really find anything.

 

So I set the TDC and it seems that the notch on the intake cam might be a bit off to the right by looking at the arrow on the cap - is it normal? BTW caps slightly wiggle from side to side on the intake cam - will that be pressed once I put tensioner back and tighten middle caps of the intake?

When i Put the chain on the intake I have 15.5 rollers between notches as in the picture that Tomvw posted.

Also should I expect any problems when starting the car after putting everything back together, expect for noises?

 

The cam caps should be pulled down evenly in small steps for the full length of the camjshaft.
All caps must always go back in their original positions.
The chain must be set to 16 rollers as shown in the diagram.

Could you post a clear pic of the whole of the front of the cam pulley ?

 

I have not made any progress since Saturday. That intake cam timing worries me quite a bit so I decided to wait for some feedback.
I have the caps organized so that I won't misplace them.

Photo of the pulley:

This is how it looks with the chain on,but without the tensioner:

For some reason photo uploader doesnt work for me, so I have to shrink those photos to 600x600 this is why they look so crappy.

 

Should I just put everything back together with the intake timing slightly off as it is, turn the engine by hand to see how it works and then start the engine? I do not want to ruin the engine so I would really appreciate someones opinion.

The main reason I am doing this job is because of rattling noise on when idle and p0011 code. I had the car inspected by VW dealer and they suggested CCT replacement, however, they quoted me 2300$ with car worth around 1700$...

 

Cranking over by hand, sparkplugs removed, battery disconnected is safe. Stop if you feel any hard resistance, only turn Clockwise!

 

If the exhaust timing is correct, the intake timing can't be out less than one tooth.
If you have set it to 16 rollers as in diagram (allowing for offset), it is correct.

As Mtech said.

 

Thanks!
I put everything back together, turned the engine by hand (no unusual resistance) and when I got back to TDC my timing on both camshafts was perfect, intake timing somehow was corrected.
Will start the engine tomorrow or Friday.

 

Sounds good!

 

Everything works great, so we have a success

Thank you for help!