Foiled Again

Cue a picture of a cartoon villain, twisting the ends of a long thin mustache...

what I got on top
early ALH on bottom

Harnessed
The engine harness I bought sight-unseen was not for an early ALH engine.  I take at least some of the fault here since the guy I bought it from called and we talked about what it looked like.  What we didn't talk about, though, was what the ECU plug looked like.  Since this plug is the only one I know is bad on my harness, that one was the single most important one for me to ask about.  I didn't.  So, when the box arrived, I opened it like a kid at Christmas.  I took one look at that plug and knew I'd struck coal in my stocking.

Now, the fun starts.  I was unable to return the harness because the guy I bought it from had already spent the money and indicated that I did get what he said it was: it is an engine harness for an ALH engine.  The fact that it is not an "early", and therefore doesn't fit is my problem.  Of course, this position wasn't articulated until after I'd returned the harness, so now I have no harness, and no money.  Sweet!  ... and just in time for Christmas.  The guy did say he would return the harness on delivery, so I'll have my useless-to-me harness again.  To eBay I go, I guess.  It does have a brand new glow-plug section in it, though, so that alone is worth $70.  Before I go that route, though, I'll look up the part number on the ECU plug and verify what models and years it fits.
UPDATE (2011-12-21): I did some googling and found the harness fits an AJM engine, not an ALH:  fits 1998-2000 Passat, Jetta and Golf with a highest HP output (130BHP) diesel engine available at the time.

I did buy a replacement ECU plug on eBay.  After all this time, I finally found someone just selling a plug with 3" of wire bundle attached.  I didn't want to perform this kind of surgery, but a $30 plug beats a $150 harness if the rest of the harness is good (which it should be).  Had I found a plug like this before, though, I would have gotten it then.  In 3 years, I'd never seen just a plug with some wire bundle for sale.  Good deal, great timing. I'll have to wait on that work until I finish my other Christmas time commitments, but I still hope to get the bus onto the mountain before NewYears.

Tires
As I write this, my studded snow tires are being mounted onto an extra set of 14" rims I got off Craigslist a couple of years ago.  They're black, so its almost like they were designed for snow tires.  Since they're 14" tires, though, I will be retaining my 52mph top speed in the bus for winter driving.  I'm certain this will frustrate other motorists as they try to speed past the beautiful countryside on their way to the lift lines.  Ah well.  I do have a set of 15" rims which fit the rear hubs.  If I had that harness money back, I could probably get a pair of 15" studded snows and increase my top speed... but only by a few mph.  Ultimately, my top speed is controlled by the high-rpm expecting 002 transaxle.  I'll address that next Summer.... if I have the money.  Or, I'll have another year to remind myself that the journey is the destination, and traveling at 50mph allows me a greater opportunity to make the most of that destination.  Later this winter, I will be chanting this mantra as I drive up Mt. Hood at 50mph, heading a line of Chevy Behemoth's and Ford Monstrosity's chomping at my rear bumper.  :)

Thanks for following along.