Ok... I looked things over and what you sadi makes sense... although there are 8 positions, it doesn't look like Safe, CAN+ or CAN- have anything to do with anything... there are only 6 connector and only 3 really match up on the harness... the two yellow power leads and the ground lead... I am not convinced that the dimmer line is hooked up either...

When I originally tried the sled, I had only soldered the leads for constant current... I didn't solder any leads for switched current because there weren't any on the harness. I don't know what the point of having a switched lead would be anyway. I ended up soldering the second constant power lead to the switched power lead... so my wiring from the 70-9003 harness to the empeg ISO harness is:

ISO Metra
Green Nothing (No mute)
Orange Yellow (Constant power 2)
Yellow Yellow (Constant power 1)
White Orange (Illumination lead)
Black Black (Ground)
Blue Blue (Antenna power, doesn't seem to be a lead from the car though - empty slot)

There is no antenna attached, as there is no tuner.

The results? a boot-up and 2 minutes later, turns itself off... works fine in AC... so I may have blown a fuse somewhere... I got a LOT of engine whine through the speakers (funny, didn't have any problems getting the Monsoon to respond) when the car is running... When I removed the 3 A fuse from the filter, the whine cut down considerably.

Is the amp rating significantly lower in the switched power line as opposed to the steady current?

I haven't pulled the allen wrench out to see if any internal fuses have blown on the unit... the VW fuses all seem intact.