01 Quattro dies while driving....
 

This started last week (twice) so I replaced the fuel filter. Seemed like a cheap, easy place to start. Died again this evening after about 15 mins of driving, but 45 mins into work this morning was fine. When it happens it will start back up after about 30-40 minutes. At cruising speed ,60-70mph, no problem, get back down to third gear and it will kill. I did notice that the temp seemed to be climbing a bit faster than it used to. No CEL. Have done some reading and came up with the obvious (fuel pump) and CTS or CPS. Any thoughts? When it rains it pours....as I'm dealing with excessive rear tire wear as well! Love my TT, just new to her and need some advice to keep her happy.

I think you should have the ecm checked for fault codes. That should be a start before more parts are thrown at the car.

Had it run for fault codes yesterday and none were thrown. Didn't know if the lack of codes would rule out the sensors or if they could still be bad without the fault codes.

it could be a fuel pump? i had a similar issue with a VW , except another symptom was it was worse the less gas i had i the tank. but a lot similar it would randomly stall and then wouldn't start for 30-60 min after that.

Yes it could still be a sensor problem without codes. Also some scanners are not capable of reading "pending codes". Even though they might have that function , i have seen where they just don't read them.

That seemed to be the case with the low fuel level. I hadn't been filling up all the way in case I did need to replace the fuel pump. I read somewhere that if the crank position sensor was bad, that when it died and I tried to restart the tach wouldn't show the crank RPM. Mine did, so I'm assuming the CPS is good. Guess it's time to order that fuel pump.

Where is the fuel filter?

The fuel filter is under the passenger side near the rear wheel well. Well good news is the TT now has a brand new fuel pump. Bad news is that wasn't it. Did notice today when it died again, after getting the pump in last night, that I was mistaken about the crank RPM on the tach. After it died and I tried to start it, the needle did nothing. I also noticed though at idle after it had warmed up the temp gauge seemed to level out at about 1/4 and stay there then suddenly almost tick its way up to 1/2 within about 15 secs. That doesn't seem normal. Not sure if to spend the 80 bucks or so on a Crank position sensor or if it may be something temp related or if the temp is normal. Still no codes.

Old thread but what ended up being the problem?

It was the crank position sensor. Not expensive, not easy to get to if you don't have elf hands.