Schaefft's Bargain Barge Extravaganza - Oldsmobile Resurrection

[robthedonkey]

On the plantings aj grab away Washington were cheapest I found we had 36 tonnes to make a carpark at the kids football training fields ... He even tripped and drove to spread it the best he could for us

Was 70 a ton delivered for full loads to cramlington

Sent from my Pixel 8 using Tapatalk

[Schaefft]

1 minute ago, robthedonkey said:

On the plantings aj grab away Washington were cheapest I found we had 36 tonnes to make a carpark at the kids football training fields ... He even tripped and drove to spread it the best he could for us

Was 70 a ton delivered for full loads to cramlington

Sent from my Pixel 8 using Tapatalk
 

Appreciating any local recommendations!

[DVee8]

I have used these a couple of times.

 

https://www.woodstoneaggregates.co.uk/

[somewhatfoolish]

On 14/12/2024 at 11:44, yes oui si said:

Big shed as previously discussed, park cars in shed, also park ride on mower/baby tractor in shed, devote small amount of land to veg/hay production, shed is therefore an agri building. 

Minimum area of 5 hectares is needed before ag building exemptions start; how big is your backyard @Schaefft?

[yes oui si]

5 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Minimum area of 5 hectares is needed before ag building exemptions start; how big is your backyard @Schaefft?

He doesn't really need exemption. I'm not sure why an agri shed would be denied given the area and existing buildings nearby. 

[somewhatfoolish]

He would need ordinary PP, unless it's in a conservation area or his gaff's a listed building it shouldn't be problematic.

[Schaefft]

35 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

He would need ordinary PP, unless it's in a conservation area or his gaff's a listed building it shouldn't be problematic.

Its just around 6 acres in total, its not a listed building and not in a conservation area but in the Newcastle green belt (just about, which is annoying).

[somewhatfoolish]

6 acres is enough to make the "I need a shed for my tractor" argument pretty irrefutable even in greenbelt I'd have thought; @rantingYoof?

[rantingYoof]

6 acres is 2.4ha which isn't enough to secure a building utilising any agricultural permitted development right. Class A, Part 6, Schedule 2 is for agricultural holdings 5ha or more, Class B of the same Part doesn't permit new buildings. Even if you had more than 5ha, if a prior notification for an agricultural building came across my desk then it'd need to be accompanied by a statement setting out the agricultural need for such a building, and the definition of agriculture here is that it must be associated with a trade or business.

If it's land outside the residential curtilage of the dwelling, you'd be effectively seeking the permission to erect a new building and change the use of the land to either residential garden or simply the storage of private vehicles (sui generis).  You might even run into the same difficulties simply changing the use of the land without even having a building there if the land is in a nil use presently - if it's a green paddock and you want to put car(s) on this, this will affect the visual appearance of the landscape to a degree.

Also, unless you're dumping a load of gravel on it, creating an area of hardstanding the proper way (digging down, base layers, needing mini diggers etc) is likely an engineering operation which requires permission by itself. However, exemption 154(h)(ii) does permit engineering operations which preserve the Green Belt's openness. It'll be the subsequent storage of paraphernalia on it that trips over this exemption.

I appreciate this makes me sound like a dullard jobsworth but I'd rather be unpopular and you a lot better off having not invested ££££s in pursuing something than you poorer and me having given you false hope.

[Tickman]

3 minutes ago, rantingYoof said:

I appreciate this makes me sound like a dullard jobsworth

It makes you sound like you know your job which as you've said could well be, and probably has been with previous advice, of great help to Schaefft

[Schaefft]

I've had a chance to have a quick look around the C6 during lunch today, lets do a tour of what 550 quid can buy you in the French executive segment in 2024:

Things aren't looking too bad at a first glance, however the whole car received a respray at some point and as seems to be all too common unfortunately, it didn't hold up for very long:

The whole front is covered in stone chips where the clear and basecoat just weren't strong enough. You'll also notice that the previous owner (who the seller from yesterday bought the car from) felt like tinting the side and foglights would add to the appeal of the car. I've also removed the loose chrome trim on the bonnet before it had a chance to take off on the motorway. At least I found the toweye cover inside the car.

The bonnet doesn't look much better. Hard to tell what exactly is going on there but the clearcoat is pretty rough but might come back with a cut and polish. There's some pretty gnarly glue residue and that scuffed front corner, most of this should come out as long as the clearcoat is still there. Headlights definitely need a polish. The roof doesn't look that much better, maybe Im lucky and its just grime from standing for so long but my bet is on the clearcoat just not being hard enough to withstand fairly normal wear and tear.

You gotta love the fastback style roof line of the C6. You might have noticed that the chrome trim being blacked out on this side, its just tape that should come off fairly quickly:

And the concave rear screen. I think after the XM Citroen finally realized that customers in the executive segment demanded the more traditional boot of a 3-box saloon, this was certainly one way of ensuring a sufficiently seized opening without compromising the sleek silhouette of the car. You can also see the integrated electrically retracting rear wing which deploys at higher speeds. I'm not sure how much downforce it really generates but I think its a neat feature that underlines the tech tour de force Citroen wanted to accomplish with their flagship.

How big is the boot then? Pretty decent actually, even with the trim panel around the battery hanging down like this. Further proof of the car's original color visible as well.

I found the world's largest ziptie inside for size reference:

Jack and spare wheel still in situ!

And another private pool underneath. Can't wait to find the leak for this one. Unfortunately the PDC module got flooded in the process, fortunately cheap to replace:

We also found a replacement clockspring (hopefully fixing the airbag error), some trim bits and the window switch pack for a Peugeot 307. If anyone needs the latter, you can find it in my bin (was junk).

More scuffs on this corner, reverse and foglights blacked out for maximum style, minimum functionality:

Here's the worst of the body damage, I'm not sure if the owner scraped alongside a pole or something sideswiped the car but judging by the amount of various scuffs all over the car I'd be inclined to say the former. The door and rear dog leg got dented in. The door fix could be as easy as replacing it entirely IF it was an original Citroen paint code, the dogleg however will never look decent without plenty of filler.

Exterior condition verdict: Plenty of battle scars, many of which could be removed with a bit of time, plenty more here to stay. 10 footer it is!

Things are looking better inside, even the cupholders are quirky in the C6:

With this being a mid-level Lignage we got plenty of kit as well. The car has half leather/half cloth seats and this dark bluish grey trim which actually looks really good on it. I usually prefer brighter interiors but oddly enough similar to the XM I think black is the way to go here:

Seats are electrically adjustable, no memory in this one though. What I only today realized is that the Lingage equipment level does have the heads-up display!

Heads-up displays are hardly new tech, GM already offered them in some cars as early as the late 80s. It was still very unsual tech outside the States up until more recently though, this is the first car I've owned that has the option. I need to check what info aside from speed this one displays but its a good piece of tech to have. What I don't have is the larger 7" center screen, something that would push the car a bit further into the modern age of infotainment. So I'll have to make do with this:

No conventional instrument cluster in the C6 either, it works well and is easy to read:

A somewhat compromised glovebox with mystery wiring and a free pack of crips:

Moving on to the backseat, its not super spacious considering the size of the car but the backrest folds down making this fairly practical for hauling stuff around, if not as practical as the much taller Velsatis. There was also a lounge pack option adding controls to the backseat but losing the ability to fold them down.

You also get controls for ventilation and 2 power outlets. The center console is height adjustable.

And thats it really. Considering the state of the outside things have held up very well in here, it just needs a proper clean really. Its a well equipped car thats offering quite a bit of kit even in this mid-spec trim and still feels well put together 17 years later.

Any treasures found inside then? Aside from 3 pens, some huge zipties and the few bits of trim its mostly junk. No additional info on any of the previous owners either, leaving me with little about the history of the car (I will be owner number 10). The guy before me had it for about 3 years in which it seems to have deteriorated quite a bit. Here it is a few months after the last owner bought it, still in much better shape back then:

It spent some time in Birmingham before and was originally registered down South and in Devon. The registration indicates it was first registered in Maidstone (certainly not the only C6 with a very similar reg), the dealer selling the car was actually located in Slough which must have shut only a few years after opening. Its now owned by "Guru Maneyo Granth Gurdwara" instead:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/mFyaoHdkaQoRyN2h7

The MOT expires in April. Not much is going to happen over the next 2 weeks but Im hoping to get a chance to clean the inside and eventually give it a proper polish in the new year. That alone should already make a huge difference to the appearance of the car. It will need various things sorting to pass another MOT. A closer inspection will reveal whether its worth it or not, with these being such special rare cars now I think its worth trying at the very least.

[Schaefft]

25 minutes ago, rantingYoof said:

6 acres is 2.4ha which isn't enough to secure a building utilising any agricultural permitted development right. Class A, Part 6, Schedule 2 is for agricultural holdings 5ha or more, Class B of the same Part doesn't permit new buildings. Even if you had more than 5ha, if a prior notification for an agricultural building came across my desk then it'd need to be accompanied by a statement setting out the agricultural need for such a building, and the definition of agriculture here is that it must be associated with a trade or business.

If it's land outside the residential curtilage of the dwelling, you'd be effectively seeking the permission to erect a new building and change the use of the land to either residential garden or simply the storage of private vehicles (sui generis).  You might even run into the same difficulties simply changing the use of the land without even having a building there if the land is in a nil use presently - if it's a green paddock and you want to put car(s) on this, this will affect the visual appearance of the landscape to a degree.

Also, unless you're dumping a load of gravel on it, creating an area of hardstanding the proper way (digging down, base layers, needing mini diggers etc) is likely an engineering operation which requires permission by itself. However, exemption 154(h)(ii) does permit engineering operations which preserve the Green Belt's openness. It'll be the subsequent storage of paraphernalia on it that trips over this exemption.

I appreciate this makes me sound like a dullard jobsworth but I'd rather be unpopular and you a lot better off having not invested ££££s in pursuing something than you poorer and me having given you false hope.

It certainly does complicate things. I've asked our solicitor to provide a better overview of the exact zoning of the property. Theoretically there should be potential space for storage even within the boundaries of the current garden/garage/workshop etc. It does mean that proper car storage would be more of a mid-term goal though, something I would have hoped to not be the case! Guess I'll just space things out across the entire property if needs must to lessen the impact😂

[GeordieInExile]

TATDS with that bit of trim in the boot. Mine had it as well. 

As for the 7" infotainment screen... You're better off without it. The software is laughable, even when new it was outdated!

[Schaefft]

Some C6 updates: Drained the pond in the sparewheel well and cleaned it all. Unfortunately the PDC module has had it:

I briefly thought about cleaning it to see if I can get it going again but with a replacement costing only 25 quid posted that was probably the smarter way to go. It arrived today:

Looking much better:

Success, no coding needed, plug&play. Front and rear PDC is working as intended again despite 2 of the front sensors not even sitting properly in their holes, another job for when I remove the tint from the sidelights.

I've also reassembled the bootliner which got messed up at some point by someone trying to reach the battery (which seems to have recovered very well since the drive home, no issues so far). Really looking forward to giving this car a clean, it should transform it:

I'll keep an eye on any potential leaks inside the boot, a quick pour of water around the seal and taillights didn't reveal anything. If I had a guess I'd say water collected in there over months if not longer so I'm expecting it to be a fairly straight forward fix once I know where its coming from.

[Schaefft]

36 minutes ago, CGSB said:

If those wotsits are OG ones before they removed all the carcinogenic chemicals that made them delicious then I'll buy them off you for the purchase price of the car.

The C6 looks fit as fuck even with a shite re-spray. Looking forward to your interior cleaning and general tarting up of this beaut.

 

I couldn't help myself and opened the bag to give them a sniff, smelled a bit dodgy but that's probably normal for them ha.

[406V6]

On 16/12/2024 at 19:04, Schaefft said:

<snip>
...The registration indicates it was first registered in Maidstone (certainly not the only C6 with a very similar reg), the dealer selling the car was actually located in Slough which must have shut only a few years after opening. Its now owned by "Guru Maneyo Granth Gurdwara" instead:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/mFyaoHdkaQoRyN2h7

Brave man taking on a C6 !

That site was the headquarters of Citroen UK for many years. When the local Citroen dealer closed down they built the dealership and sold cars from it for a few years. Then as part of cost cutting the Citroen HQ was moved to Coventry to sit with the Peugeot HQ and the building released. It’s all part of the Slough Trading Estate so I presume they just gave up the lease and the Sikh organisation took it over.

[Schaefft]

1 minute ago, 406V6 said:

Brave man taking on a C6 !

That site was the headquarters of Citroen UK for many years. When the local Citroen dealer closed down they built the dealership and sold cars from it for a few years. Then as part of cost cutting the Citroen HQ was moved to Coventry to sit with the Peugeot HQ and the building released. It’s all part of the Slough Trading Estate so I presume they just gave up the lease and the Sikh organisation took it over.

 

Yeah, I've only realized after my post that this wasn't just any dealership but the HQ itself. Strange to build a brand new facility only to give it up a few years later. Still would love to know whether this was registered in Citroen's name first, considering that these hardly sold at all. Being a September registration it would be one of the first 57-plate cars.

V5 arrived the other day confirming that the seller never applied for one which is perfectly fine with me. I've found the actual previous owner in one of the C6 owners groups on Facebook, crossing my fingers that I'm getting a little more info about the history of the car from him.

[Schaefft]

Had a chat with the previous owner which revealed some really positive surprises. Apparently the car got a new starter, alternator and gearbox service only a bit over a year ago, the suspension received two new height sensors and was recalibrated, the speakers were upgraded with Pioneer units as well. The work was done by his mate whos apparently a FIA mechanic for LeMans prototype racing! That certainly explains why its driving so well! It was his daily driver (2nd C6 he's owned, he also has a freaking Safrane Biturbo!), apparently he's working for a film/TV production company down in London, living in Nottingham explains the many miles he racked up in just 2 years and similar to the A8 of many shiters the C6 allegedly has seen quite a few known names in the back, although none were revealed unfortunately.

He's also told me where to look for the coolant seepage (cracked thermostat housing which seems a very common issue) and a leak in one of the AC pipes. Knowing where to look is already half the job done so that was very useful info. I also now know where the big dent in the passenger rear door is coming from:

A Fiesta driver must have ignored traffic slowing down ahead and sideswiped a bunch of cars going in between lanes, the C6 got extremely lucky there:

It looks much better now and a proper polish might get most of the rest of the scuffs out again.

So yeah, some really positive news, finally a bit of history about the car and a few leads on how to sort out some of the remaining niggles. This really seems to be a really nice car that just needs a bit of TLC again.

[GeordieInExile]

Thermostat housing and one of the coolant pipes is also prone to splitting, it had done so on mine and been bodge repaired at some point - I got it replaced properly after the bodge failed and it cost £££ because it's an absolute pig of a job to do and you need a special tool for it. 

[Schaefft]

15 minutes ago, GeordieInExile said:

Thermostat housing and one of the coolant pipes is also prone to splitting, it had done so on mine and been bodge repaired at some point - I got it replaced properly after the bodge failed and it cost £££ because it's an absolute pig of a job to do and you need a special tool for it. 

Yeah, the photo I've seen of the culprit is for part number 1336Y2, which is a plastic coolant flange squeezed between the fanpack and engine. I'm not looking forward to replacing that but needs must!

[GeordieInExile]

It'll be worth it. 

Any idea on the handbrake, or is that going to wait? If you can hear the motor whirring but nothing happens then it could be that the gear inside the module needs to be replaced. Can be DIY'd if you're keen...

[Schaefft]

9 minutes ago, GeordieInExile said:

It'll be worth it. 

Any idea on the handbrake, or is that going to wait? If you can hear the motor whirring but nothing happens then it could be that the gear inside the module needs to be replaced. Can be DIY'd if you're keen...

Haven't looked yet, since this is a fairly simple assembly I cannot imagine it being particularly complicated but who knows! The calibration part will probably be the tricky one. If Im lucky its just the mechanism on the caliper thats seized up, should I need to replace a cable availability of a replacement might be the problem (EDIT: Nevermind, I can just order new cables on Autodoc if the part# are correct).

[GeordieInExile]

Might be bollocks but I have been told it's the same module as on a Laguna.

[RustyNuts]

On 20/12/2024 at 21:35, Schaefft said:

 It was his daily driver (2nd C6 he's owned, he also has a freaking Safrane Biturbo!),

This must be Colin? - A BiTurbo Safrane that looks like a Phase 2 but is actually a phase 1? - 4x4 too if memory serves? - That the chap?

[Schaefft]

1 hour ago, RustyNuts said:

This must be Colin? - A BiTurbo Safrane that looks like a Phase 2 but is actually a phase 1? - 4x4 too if memory serves? - That the chap?

No, seems to be someone from France or having lived in France for a long time. His first name is Arkadiusz.

[Schaefft]

Some minor updates. I wanted to wrap up work on the 500SEL last Saturday to finally get it off the jackstands. When I installed the brake pads I noticed that one of the four pistons of the old caliper didn't compress anymore no matter how much force I applied. Guess I'm now replacing that one as well, making this pretty much the last component on the front brakes that wasn't brand new yet. Since that was halting my progress on the Merc to a grind I've finally vacuumed the inside of the C6 instead. Looking much better now. The difference is hardly visible in the photos so here's just a nice tidy boot of a C6:

I only noticed then that the lower rear seat cushions fold forward to allow for a flat loading floor with the rear seat down, very unsual for a saloon. For some reason Citroen also decided to install 4 seatbelt buckles instead of the usual 3, not sure what the thinking was there?

One of the random trim bits the car came with was this tweeter cover, the old one had a few broken clips, nice and solid now:

There was a cover for the rear seat isofix that was missing as well, found it in the car so thats back where it belongs now. I haven't really had a closer look at the engine yet, now knowing that one of the plastic components of the cooling system need replacing I had a quick look to gauge accessibility:

Well, it doesn't look too scary but the bits I am looking for are sitting nicely sandwiched between engine and radiator so some disassembly will be required. The thermostat housing meanwhile is somewhere under the throttlebody, apparently thats a little easier to reach. Surprisingly this engine has not had the EGR system capped off yet. Depending on how things go I might need some advise from resident C6 sufferer @cort16 to see how I can tackle that job, IF I can find someone who can then code it out properly.

No further C6 news for a while as I'm now back in Germany over Christmas.

 

[Schaefft]

Where things won't slow down as I got this beauty to deal with!

Just as a quick recap, I bought this incredibly rare '95 Oldsmobile Aurora in Germany all the way back in January 2020, right before the pandemic hit. You can find the "collection" thread here:

Well, somehow almost 5 years have passed with little progress. The car never started (despite being advertised as running and driving). The fuel pump must have died and repeated attempts at getting it to run (often with very few tools) failed due to new fuel pumps being junk, a lack of time to really make progress and just other things breaking while abandoned out in the weather for so long. Well, not anymore!

Since I've been flying over I've ordered all the basic tools needed to have another proper go at this. With the car now at my parents I can actually use the Christmas days to properly diagnose the issues, replace the fuel pump once and for all (if the new one isn't broken either) and hopefully get the thing to run and drive. Somehow every single sparkplug wire was partially eaten by rodents but I've got not one but two full sets to replace them (I forgot I had some here already)!

Fluid levels are still looking fine aside from ATF which might indicate a gearbox leak I wasn't aware of yet. I've ordered 8 liters of Dexron 3 which hopefully stay in there long enough to get it moving. I remember pouring some fuel stabilizer in the tank so fingers crossed its still starting on what is pretty old fuel by now. I don't have a ton of time tomorrow as its Christmas Eve but maybe Santa will bring me the gift of a running Olds Aurora. I've got 3 of these and somehow every single one of them is in similar shape. It doesn't help that I bought them all because they were dirt cheap (and the only ones for sale).

[cort16]

23 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

Some minor updates. I wanted to wrap up work on the 500SEL last Saturday to finally get it off the jackstands. When I installed the brake pads I noticed that one of the four pistons of the old caliper didn't compress anymore no matter how much force I applied. Guess I'm now replacing that one as well, making this pretty much the last component on the front brakes that wasn't brand new yet. Since that was halting my progress on the Merc to a grind I've finally vacuumed the inside of the C6 instead. Looking much better now. The difference is hardly visible in the photos so here's just a nice tidy boot of a C6:

I only noticed then that the lower rear seat cushions fold forward to allow for a flat loading floor with the rear seat down, very unsual for a saloon. For some reason Citroen also decided to install 4 seatbelt buckles instead of the usual 3, not sure what the thinking was there?

One of the random trim bits the car came with was this tweeter cover, the old one had a few broken clips, nice and solid now:

There was a cover for the rear seat isofix that was missing as well, found it in the car so thats back where it belongs now. I haven't really had a closer look at the engine yet, now knowing that one of the plastic components of the cooling system need replacing I had a quick look to gauge accessibility:

Well, it doesn't look too scary but the bits I am looking for are sitting nicely sandwiched between engine and radiator so some disassembly will be required. The thermostat housing meanwhile is somewhere under the throttlebody, apparently thats a little easier to reach. Surprisingly this engine has not had the EGR system capped off yet. Depending on how things go I might need some advise from resident C6 sufferer @cort16 to see how I can tackle that job, IF I can find someone who can then code it out properly.

No further C6 news for a while as I'm now back in Germany over Christmas.

 

It is worth doing although when I bought the blanking plates off ebay (for an XF) I got an email from them saying I'd bought an ilegal item. The back one is pretty horrible to change I had to use a combination  of wobble sockets and extensions to be able to get to it. Remember to unplug the EGR\s once they get mapped out as not doing that is what caused all my misery. I didn't have a single running issue once I'd done this.

[mk2_craig]

31 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

Citroen also decided to install 4 seatbelt buckles instead of the usual 3, not sure what the thinking was there?

Is it one of those where the centre belt retracts into the roof?  And therefore has two buckles: 

(Apologies for non-Citroen content) 

[Schaefft]

First time I had a little time to spend on the Aurora today. The most obvious issue were the plug wires, as you could tell above there wasn't all that much left of them:

Something lost it's feathers in there as well. With this being a transversely mounted V8 access to the rear plugs is a little tight but hardly a problem with the coilpacks removed:

The new cables already came with some protective conduit, fortunately all coilpack studs and sparkplug bores were numbered for easy confirmation of the firing order.

I felt like this might be a good time to see whether the engine fires at all with easy start, no fuel pump needed for that. There was a short moment of worry when this message popped up:

GM uses Passkey 2 as anti theft system in many of their 90s vehicles including the Aurora. It's as simple as a little resistor chip embedded into the key blade which the ignition cylinder reads. There's about a dozen (iirc) different resistors used so it's pretty easy to bypass the system by wiring in a similar resistor straight into the ignition cylinder loom, which is often necessary as the contacts wear out. I don't have these resistors here though so this could have ground progress to a halt pretty much immediately. Fortunately inserting and removing the key helped making the message go away...

Today I finally replaced the fuel pump (after having a great Christmas dinner). Good thing it's winter as a few bees made the car their home before:

Unlike on my '95 DeVille Oldsmobile was actually clever enough to have a little access cover in the trunk. The problem is that it's so deep in there that you'll have to crawl in:

The new pump came with a different style connector, here's what it looks like:

A few twists of the key confirmed its working! I knew there was still ancient fuel in the tank, since the first few cranks of the engine didn't result in any signs of it firing I felt like pumping it out was the best thing I can do here.

The battery, main fuse box and all it's relays are under the back seat, I've jumped the fuel pump relay to speed things up.

Turns out I only must have had a liter or two in there as the tank was empty rather quickly. Most of it might have been the fuel stabilizer I poured in there two years ago, it's now staining everything it touches yellow, wonderful. We poured 10l of fresh Super (E5) back in the tank, I'd hope that'll be enough to mix it all into something that can actually combust.

Well, cranking the car still didn't result in much though. I've checked for spark which was there but spraying easy start into the system resulted in the engine firing for just a second or so, it would never stay running longer despite manually operating the throttle valve while spraying as much of it in there as I could.

The next thing on the list were the spark plugs. I didn't expect them to be so bad that the engine wouldn't run, it did fire after all relatively consistently before shutting off. I already expected an aftermarket alarm (non found) or the ECU killing the spark for one reason or another. It was worth looking at the plugs anyway though as they clearly fouled up from the engine never really running properly:

Yeah, it's not great. I could clean these up but might as well throw a set of new ones in. And lo and behold, the engine does run on easy start now! It still only fires on one or two cylinders without it which means that most injectors could be gummed up, causing a lack of fuel supply, that's what I hope anyway as a bit of tapping on them might bring them back to life. The battery got weak and the daylight quickly vanished though so we'll see if we can finally get this thing running tomorrow. Fingers crossed it's just that. It's not like the car will be able to tell me either. 1995 was a transitional year from OBD1 to OBD2 for GM, resulting in the most abysmal diagnostic support imaginable.

In my car this resulted in an OBD2 shaped connector and pin layout that seems pretty much completely undocumented, even the often mentioned OBD1.5 pin layout doesn't match this. Should anyone here somehow recognize this thing, let me know! Something as easy as a faulty sensor would be enough to leave me guessing until all eternity.