Plug won't go all the way in. .02 worth of plastic.

[GeorgeoftheJuggle]

My weekend of worry. My 2015 egolf seemed to have something blocking the charging plug from being inserted all the way. I park it at a garage with valet during the day. They have a chargepoint charger with a J1772 plug. I was worried the valet forced the plug out.

Using my 120v home charger I could see that the plug was not going in all the way. The trigger latch on the plug was not dropping into place on the car chargeing port. The pin would come out and hit the latch a few times and retract back into its hole. Reading a few threads I took the recommendation of using some silicone spray Definitely helped with my home charger going in further but not the charge point J1772 plugs I tried. I went to a total of 4, hoping something would shimmy back into place. Finally, back at home, I was able to get the green light on and top off the battery over night. But was worried this was going to be an expensive trip to the dealer. I bought the car used and is not under warranty.

On day three of trying to force shimmy jiggle twist a chargepoint plug into place I took a plastic dental flosser and was able to spin around a flange/bushing thingy that was loose in the port on the car. It did not seem to fall I to any fixed home position on its own but judging by the angle, it was obvious the wider part would go at the bottom to match the J1773 plug. But nothing was keeping it in a set position. Finally I just took the thing out. Plug dropped into place no problem. Green light!!! Does not seem to be any extra play in the connection.

What is this thing? Is it supposed to sent deep I the socket, possibly to prevent water leaking in? Is it even part of the car? I don't think it came from the plug.

 

[f1geek]

A few high resolution pics (from different angles) of you car’s charge port might help a bit, too. Thanks.

 

[GeorgeoftheJuggle]

I will get a few more pics tonight. Thanks for the suggestion. This has been a weekend that makes me want to go completely off the grid. Car not charging. Phone screen broken, I replaced it myself but the sound did not work. So I took it apart and put it back together again. Then my internet router went out and likely needs to be replaced.

 

[where2]

Look carefully at the INSIDE of your charging connector. I believe this ring belongs to some charging connector your vehicle was recently connected to. This is the second description I've read in the last 6 months for a plastic ring lodged in the charging port. I believe this ring snaps into the inside of the connector on the end of the charger cord to make the alignment of the pins occur more smoothly and consistently at the proper angle. Without that ring, the charge plug connector is going to be a slightly sloppier fit.

 

[GeorgeoftheJuggle]

A few more pics of the port. In daylight I can see a green ring at the bottom of the port. So if others can see a green ring also that would make it likely that this thing came from the charger plug.

The plug end on my home Delphi charger was the exact diamiter. I suppose another charger may be different. I think you are correct that it came from the plug.

Another thing I noticed at the the of the port, two holes in the grooves that guide the latch part of the plug, seem to have some wear. Does not look like other pics of the port I have seen.

 

[f1geek]

I think the plastic ring broke off a charge plug. Also, I don't believe there should be that green o-ring in your vehicle inlet. I could see how a spacer in the vehicle inlet would make it really hard to push in the J1772 plug.

 

[where2]

as F1Geek said: That green o-ring looking bit isn't supposed to be in the slot either. Unfold a paper clip and dig that out of the groove too... That came out of the charge connector too.

 

[NeilBlanchard]

I had this happen once as well - some charging plugs leave stuff behind. You have to pull them out.

 

[GeorgeoftheJuggle]

Chargepoint plug with a similar looking piece. Has the green ring inside too.

 

[where2]

Now that you know what you're looking for, keep looking at the charger connectors you've used recently. Eventually, you may find the plug your parts came out of. When you find it, I'd like to see pictures of it, so we can determine how wide spread this problem is.

Looking at the black plastic piece that you removed, I see what appear to be two locking tabs in the plastic which were intended to engage in the other portion of the connector to keep it attached to the plug. I presume the green silicone or nitrile seal is intended to be trapped behind the black plastic piece you removed and the remainder of the connector plug. When I look at my two EVSE plugs, the seal is fairly deep in the plug ring.

 

[JoulesThief]

This is a perfect example of why I don't use public EVSE chargers. Abused, ruined, and they leave crap behind in your charging port. Charge at home and avoid this nonsense.