Frank,

I think Dennis is right about the solution to your problem.

To elaborate, the ground wire in question may or may not terminate on the
oil breather housing. To locate this wire, you can trace it - it is a
brown wire that comes out of the small wire sheath that contains the wires
for the Hall Sender. Loctate this wire and clean it's connection. If it
terminates on the oil breather housing, move it to a bare metal location
somewhere else on the engine.

Please post your results.

Michael
Personal VW web page:
http://www.velocity.net/~vickrail/moshevw.htm