http://www.bentleypublishers.com/tec....dtc.table.htm
P0501 = Vehicle Speed Sensor Range/Performance

I think you forgot the 'Speed' in your code, or that tool did. :-)

The ECM must not be getting information about how fast the vehicle is
moving, or not moving.
If you had the ross-tech.com tool you might get a little more information as
to what is wrong and have the ability to test components. This means less
you have to spend on parts you might not need! ;-)
BTW there might be 2 speed sensors on the transmission.

JMHO
later,
dave
(One out of many daves)
http://vwdoc1.tripod.com/



"zatatime" > wrote in message
...
> Hello,
>
> I just purchased a 1996 Jetta GLS that is throwing a P0501 (Vehicle
> Sensor A - Range/Performace) code.
>
> It starts cold perfectly and runs for a while without problems. After
> it warms up, it will stall at idle, or low rpm if not under load.
> After it stalls I need to wait anywhere from 40 minutes to 2 hours for
> it to start up again (I think this is dependant on outside temps and
> how quickly it cools down.). When it starts it does so like nothing
> is wrong.
>
> The car seemed well maintained when I bought it. Fairly new VW coil,
> new distributor and Hall sender, spark plugs, cap, rotor, wires,
> etc....
>
> When I looked up the code I saw to check the Hall sender and Vehicle
> sensors. Since the Hall sender was fairly new, I assumed it was the
> vehicle sensors. I replaced both of them but the problem still
> exists.