>| For reasons known only to themselves, VW engineers made that harness
>| lead a co-axial cable with the shield grounded.  Somewhere along that lead,
>| inside the harness, the insulation around the inner wire broke and allowed the
>| signal to ground on the shield.  

	I believe that would be to make the shielded length shield the ECU
wires from picking up RF energy and screwing all the data up each time one
passes under some high tension lines or in a nuclear bomb blast ;) Or to
shield the ECU as much as possible from the CB/shortwave transmitter on the
bumper/roof... At least I remember reading that RF noise is a consideration
when modifying your harness and/or ECU in the Bentley guide to Bosch Fuel
Injection... How much influence this noise is going to have on one's FI
system in reality is a question I cannot asnwer...

dave