power outlet and OBD2 connector power loss when slamming door closed

[fenixus]

Quite recently I noticed a weird electrical problem on wife's 5s-fe. Namely there seem to be a loose electrical connection somewhere which interrupts the circuits of power outlet (by ash tray) and OBD2 connector ... when slamming the door, either side...

It happened to me very frequently on this car in past that whenever I was shutting the driver door and had the laptop connected to OBD2, it was loosing connection the moment I slammed the driver side door.

Today I noticed that GPS unit connected to 12V power outlet lost power when wife shut the passenger side door ... so something is loose ... any idea what to check? where to start?

I have schematics, but was wondering if anybody ever had this problem before.

I checked wiring harness ground points in cabin (instrument panel, cowl area, center console, etc.) in past and all of them were looking good and tight. wondering where that loose connection is and on which side (hot or ground).... also interesting is what else it can affect on top of things I noticed.

[hill8570]

Sounds like a fun one Is it vibration sensitive (you gotta slam the door), or can you reproduce it just tweeking around on the door switches?

[fenixus]

hehe, yeah, it's a weird one... went unnoticed/ignored for a long time

I think it needs a serious vibration like shutting the doors with some force ... if I was closing driver doors gently it was not interrupting the OBD2 connection in past ... so I guess it's gotta be the same with the other side hehe ... hence I noticed only once the GPS lost power this morning once wife "re-closed" the door with some force ... really fun one, could be anywhere ...

... now wondering how much it affects other stuff while e.g. driving over bumps and pot holes

I rarely use GPS in cities (unless traveling to unknown areas and looking for something) and using GPS on highways means usually driving over flat (more or less bump free) roads too ... and I don't usually have anything connected to OBD2 connector on this car while driving either ...

EDIT:

haha, just went to car and slammed the doors like 5 times on both sides and could not replicate the problem , have no idea what it is ...

from bad news though, I noticed the Long Term Fuel Trim jumped up to +15% on this car (5s-fe) since we started using the a/c ... need to unbolt and clean IAC valve thoroughly first for this one as the last things (I know I know, it should have been first LOL) to check for proper engine speed at idle and fuel trims

anyways, electrical issue seems gone for now and totally a mystery for now ...