I could literally write a horror novel on the problems I have encountered with my 02 jetta but since this is not the time or place i will stick to the topic at hand.

I have a 2002 1.8l turbo jetta GLS with a 5 speed automatic triptronic transmission, it has about 130k miles on it. For the past couple months i have been having problems with the car running after it had been drivin for more than 30 minutes, I stop after driving it for 30 or more minutes to do shopping,ect and i come out start it up drive it maybe 10 feet and it stalls, will not start back up until it has not been driven for at least an hour or it cooled down or something. My temp. gauge never showed my engine to be above normal temp. so i as well as others thought the problem was my fuel filter which i replaced and come to find out was not the problem.

Well the stalls became more frequent even so that upon starting it in the morning it would drive sluggish until i got it going but would not start again after driving for a while as i explained before. My battery ended up going dead after several attempts at starting it one day so i took it out of the car and recharged it. After putting it back in, my car would start up for maybe 5-10 seconds then just die. I hear the fuel pump turn on so im thinking its not that, I did some reading and have come to think it might be my vehicle speed sensor so I borrowed an OBD II scan device from a friend and i get these codes:

P0171 in bank #1
P0321 ign./ distributor engine speed int circ range

I have jacked my car up and looked for the vss on the tranny but have yet to find it, things were pretty greasy under there and it was getting dark but I was wondering if this sensor is internal (prays its not) or if there might possibly be some other part or procedure i can try to remedy this situation?

I hope I have given enough info that someone might have some comments on my problem, they are all very much appreciated.

I found the engine speed sensor and pulled it out pretty easily, if i recall the mechanic who installed my water pump about a year ago also replaced this sensor because of the same code and the part also looks fairly new.

I called on a price check for it and was qouted at $100 with a wait of a few days but i havent called around for better price.

Would this engine speed sensor cause my car to die abruptly after starting it? cause at the moment i cant drive my car to check the MAF, it doesnt stay running long enough.

I erased the OBD codes from the car then tried starting it, the car started but after a few seconds would die so i disconnected the MAF sensor that sits on a piece of my cold air intake and the car stayed running, I was even able to drive it out of my driveway but that was as far as it would go. The car will stay running with the MAF off but as soon as i press on the gas pedal it will die. I also got new codes from the OBD which are:

P0102 - Mass or volume air flow circuit low input

P0130 - 02 Circuit (bank1, sensor 1)

Those are the only 2 codes it gives now. I guess the 2nd code P0130 has to do with my oxygen sensor pre-cat. but thats kinda odd considering this sensor is not suppose to be activated until it reaches a certain degree of heat like 600 or something.

So I am assuming that my problem is my MAF.

Oh and also the ASR/ESP light on my instrument panel stays lit up and pushing the ASR button on my dash does not shut it off.

Edited by: digital on Nov 5, 2009 3:12 PM

Sorry, I hink I miss read.... if she starts & runs with MAF disconnected but does not start with MAF connected, then maybe the MAF is bad. The engine still should not cut out after a while though... maybe you have more than one problem?