Yeah I know the feeling. I don't keep costing spreadsheets like some folk do as it's too depressing. I reckon with the money I've spent on fixing and modifying VWs, plus all the 20mpg fuel costs over the past 20 years, I could have driven a diesel sh1tter or 5 for that long, saved the money and bought a 911
But car enthusiasts always seem to prefer the school of hard knocks
Thinking back to the beginning where you said these problems began after you rebuilt it, was it fine before hand? Did the engine come out? Just wondering if a wire got accidentally got pinched and shorted out, which caused all this grief? If any of the CAN modules get shorted out, that can upset the rest of them, including the gateway.
Having said that, the steering rack wiring harness on Gen1 racks was a known weakness. VW under spec'd the wire size, which in some cars caused the crispy mess you ended up with. If one of those shorted out thin wires is a CAN signal, I can see that causing you some problems. Before I switched to a Gen 3 rack and harness, I did notice with hefty steering inputs, it felt like the rack couldn't keep up and got mega stiff all of a sudden. I suspect that was the motor struggling for current over the thin wires.
Anyway, keep soldiering on, you'll get there. I'll have a look at your LPFP thread.
