Tomtom Charger Plug Jammed In Power Outlet Socket

[Harmire]

Help please!

My TomTom charger plug clicked rather more firmly than usual into the 12V power supply socket last night and it is now jammed solidly in place. The TomTom is about 18 months old and the plug has worked fine in other vehicles; it has also worked in our new Auris (2013, petrol 1.6l) for the past 3 months.

I guess Toyota will blame TomTom (and vice versa) but I need to get this sorted urgently, so I really need to fix it myself if I can.

Has anyone encountered this problem before? I guess I need to get at the back of the socket, but there seems to be a lot of panel to dismantle and I'm reluctant to go too far because of the warranty.

Any thoughts please? Thanks.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Squirt of WD40 into the socket, leave for a few minutes to penetrate and gently turn the charger to lubricate between the surfaces, before trying to ease it out ?? If this works, dry the socket with kitchen towel or similar.

[Harmire]

Thanks, I'll give that a try - I'm amazed how solidly it's jammed in, the metal sleeve in the socket turns when I turn the plug and it feels as if something is locking the plug in place.

[Harmire]

I've tried WD40, but it's still jammed solid. I'll pursue it as a warranty issue with Toyota in due course, but I've just bought another charger plug so I can continue to use my TomTom elsewhere.

[Peter Sale]

Sounds to me like the spring contacts on the charging plug have managed to engage with the slots that they use on the socket - especially as you say that the sleeve turns with the plug. I think I would try rocking the plug while pulling as well and see if you can work the spring contacts out.

An understanding dealer should be helpful although I would worry about it happening again. Suspect it is just one of those things though.

Best of luck.

[Harmire]

Thanks - I'd more or less reached the same conclusion. I've tried rocking, wiggling and pulling, but no joy yet. At least it's not a crisis as the jammed charger continues to function and I've now got another for use elsewhere.

I'll try the dealer when I have the opportunity. I can't believe this is a 'first' - unless the power socket on the new Auris is of a slightly different design.

[Steve_R54]

Did you ever find a solution to this problem as exactly the same thing has happened to me this afternoon, The charging plug for my TomTom is now solidly stuck in the cigarette lighter socket of my 2014 Auris 1,4 D4D.

Thanks for any advice.

[Harmire]

My Toyota dealer finally solved it for me when I took the car in for its first service - at no cost. The technician managed to remove the charger plug from the socket without damaging either. I think he was probably just more confident about using force than I was! Since then I've been careful to put the plug in its correct orientation gently, avoiding the temptation to twist it. I was several months wth the plug stuck and I just left it like that, after having bought a second plug so I could use the Tom Tom elsewhere. I suspect that the separate designs of plug and socket have resulted in a combination that is not entirely foolproof.

Good luck!

[Miseryguts]

I had exactly the same thing with my TomTom.

It jammed solid.

The dealer managed to remove it for me (free of charge) and said that best not use it again.

I bought a non Tom Tom plug off the net and it goes in and out with no problem.

The TomTom worked fine on my previous car but the Auris was a no go.

I did phone Tom Tom and they said the warranty only covered the plug not any damage that a stuck one would cause as they wouldn't know if it was the socket or the plug causing the problem.

I did notice that the locating springs on the TomTom plug didn't have much play in them,this might be the cause of the problem also I put a vernier gauge on the Tom Tom barrel and it was very slightly bigger than my after market one.

[Steve_R54]

Thanks Harmire and Miseryguts for your replies.

Looks like I will have to pay a visit to my local Toyota dealer to get the thing out then. Fortunately it works OK so I can continue to use it in the meantime and will just have to get another charging plug to use the Tomtom in my wife's car.

Cheers!

[Countrylad]

Well whaddayaknow, the same thing has just happened on my 2014 Auris, and also with my TomTom plug. It spooked me a little bit, the way that it wouldn't rotate in the socket but took the metal surround with it. I was starting to think that it must have welded itself into the socket.

So big thanks all round! I'll get it seen to when the car is in for its next service. Glad to hear that it's a known issue. Phew! 

 

[Slasher_uk]

So I’m not on my own with this problem then, I have tried using force but it creates movement on my centre console. My car was serviced today and I forgot to mention it, I did think of just breaking it into small pieces and taking it out bit by bit.

[Countrylad]

11 hours ago, Slasher_uk said:

My car was serviced today and I forgot to mention it, I did think of just breaking it into small pieces and taking it out bit by bit.

I thought of that as well, but it would just be too easy to blow the fuses and bring everything to a halt. Any little bit of metal that gets across the terminals inside the socket (or even inside the plug!) would do that. I had that happen a couple of years ago, when a cheapo 12v plug disintegrated in situ and the spring came loose and shorted everything out. It was lucky that I knew where the fuse was (not always easy on a Volkswagen!) and that I had the right fuse handy.

I think I'll leave this one to the experts.....  I'm off on my holidays soon, and the last thing I want when I'm abroad is dead leccies. If it's a known issue, then the dealer will be know how to sort it out in the best way. And if he gets it wrong, then it becomes his problem rather than mine.

[Catlover]

Same thing now with my Gen4 Prius - but not with TomTom. I tried a 3rd party adaptor to take the cig socket to dual usb connectors. As soon a I pushed the adaptor in I thought "that was a bit tight", and it was. I had to pull hard to get it out.

 

[Countrylad]

YAY! I finally extracted my stuck adapter!

But not before my Toyota dealer told me that he'd have to charge me for the stripdown and disassembly. Given that this is a known occurrence with Toyotas, and that the car is only four years old and in warranty, I wasn't too happy about that. Decided to give it another go before I paid up.

As others have suggested, the problem was that the adapter hadn't been inserted quite straight (it was at 2 o'clock instead of at 12 o'clock), and the two spring lugs had engaged with some cut-out holes which Toyota had thoughtlfully left in the internal sleeve of the socket. So the whole thing was jammed so tightly that it was rotating the sleeve itself.

Simply pulling at the adapter wouldn't ever have worked, because the springs were too well engaged in the holes. I fixed it by grabbing the adapter around the edge with a mole wrench (sheesh) and forcibly twisting it anti-clockwise, while also trying to hold the sleeve steady. It released itself immediately. (Some say that a dash of WD40 into the socket helps.)

The adapter itself seems to have survived, although I won't be using it again in this car. Next time I'll be a bit more careful about how I insert a USB adapter. Pass it on.

[Chriss27]

This happened to me when using the air pump to check the tyre pressures. Toyota tried to remove without  success so they replaced it under warranty

[Jamstamanify]

I had this issue with my Tom Tom charger getting stuck in my 2015 Auris. I managed to get it out myself by wrapping a leather belt tightly around it. Then holding the centre console with one hand and pulling hard on the belt. Hope this helps.

[Roy124]

Yup, the standard plugs and sockets aren't standard. I have a superbly designed double USB plug fits most sockets except one O wanted.  In this case it would not engage!