Well, my return to town coincided with the Wife's CRD low fuel light coming on so I went ahead and installed the in-tank lift pump last night. The info in this post was very helpful. I will post some pics of things not already shown that I think might help others understand the details.
--the pump module install was really straight-foward, I found it helpful to remove the three torx screws in the filler area prior to dropping the tank so the hose range of motion was increased.
--I completely removed the rear harness from the vehicle.
--the 05 gasser harness is in-fact about six inches shorter than the CRD harness. I soldered in one 6"(hot) and one 8"(ground) splice mid-wire and the fit was perfect
--I ended up just removing the two needed wires from the gasser harness and installing them in the CRD harness.
two wires from gasser harness prior to splicing and installation into CRD harness:
The ground wire above had a second wire going to the extra sensor on the gas harness, I cut this out and used an eight inch splice on the ground wire.
Here are the gasser and CRD under-seat connectors side by side:
here is the backside of my 05 CRD under-seat connector:
backside of the at-tank gasser connector- power far right, ground far left
front view of gasser under-seat and at tank connectors after the red and blue inserts were removed. tabs to release pins are clearly seen:
*note: I removed two wires from the left connector above prior to pic*
The harness looks OEM after reinstall. The pump works as described and the engine does seem to run smoother, start more readily, and lack hesitation.
The bad news: it appears that the new fuel manager head installed under warranty less than one tank ago is leaking at the heater puck after a 15 mile test run. Not sure exactly what to do about this since I'm still under warranty for a while.
If anyone is planning for this install and wants to save a few bucks on the harness, I have enough wire/connectors from the gasser harness for at least one more install on a CRD like mine, PM me. EDIT: One set already shipped (that was quick!) The connectors for the extra gasser plug are the same as the pump connection, so I have enough connectors/wire left to make one more complete set if anyone's interested. EDIT #2: Both are gone!
It would be great if someone would compile all the info in this thread into a single-post how-to to aid others.
Now I never have to show my wife how to operate the bleeder valve!!!