[Cruzer]

Like many of you, I eventually developed the intermittent USB issue where the connection is randomly interrupted and the music or phone call is stopped, then it reconnects (maybe) after a few seconds. Sometimes it can happen 3 times in a row, and sometimes it doesn't happen for a day or two.

I had my 5000 mile service a few weeks ago, and the dealer said "all is well" with the USB port, so they refused to address it under warranty. Despite this being a widespread issue, to my knowledge Hyundai has not acknowledged it with a TSB. I realize that I could probably try to take a video and make multiple trips to a dealer to have it fixed under warranty, but time is money and the part to fix it is $66 and my labor is free.

As a disclaimer, proceed at your own risk, etc etc. If you are not handy then try to get it done under warranty. I've hard-wired dash cams in at least 5 different vehicles now (most are not as easy as the I5 with the Dongar), so I have familiarity with removing trim pieces and working with harnesses but I am not a mechanical guru by any stretch. Most of this is very easy with really the only issue being freeing up the blue harness. I did not disconnect any batteries for this.

The part number is 96120-GI000 (that's the letter I after G, not a 1), and I ordered it from Lakeland Hyundai for $66.74 shipped. It took a week to get to me.

View attachment 46670

As you see the part consists of the main USB harness that plugs into the plastic floor trim piece, and two connectors - one with a white harness that is super easy to replace, and one with a blue harness that is a PITA. You can see in the upper right corner of the picture where the blue harness has a small rectangular clip on the side where you push the top part to free it. Notice also the red and white tape on the wire as this will help you locate the OEM wire under the dash.

The first steps are very easy and involve removing the plastic trim piece and cubby on the floor. Start by using a flathead screwdriver to remove the two plastic clips on the left and right side. If you slide the screwdriver under the center circle to pop it up, the clips will easily come out. Then use the flathead screwdriver in the notch under the felt piece to remove it which reveals a 10 mm hex head bolt.

View attachment 46671

View attachment 46672

Once those three things are removed, the plastic trim piece should be easily to rock back and forth. There are four plastic clips at the top that hold the piece in. If you kinda rock it some and put gentle pressure on the sides you should be able to eventually free up the entire trim piece. Do not yank with all of your might as there are two wires connected to the USB port and the 12V adapter. There is some slack in the wires, but still be careful.

View attachment 46673

This is what the underside of the plastic piece looks like. Unclip the 12V adapter harness and then push on the clips on both sides of the rectangular black USB harness to remove it (you can look at the new USB part for reference on where to push). Once these two wires are free you can put the big plastic trim piece out of the way.

View attachment 46678

This is how it looks once the USB harness is removed. The white harness connection is seen in the background, and the blue PITA connector is under the dash. You can unclip the white harness connector now.

View attachment 46675

So for my hands to fit under the dash, I had to loosen the trim piece to give me room. The lower dash is made of three plastic trim pieces - under the steering wheel, the center part, and the glove compartment. The part of the center trim piece next to the steering wheel is connected to a lot of pieces and is not easily freed. The bottom right of the center trim piece is easily loosened by a gentle tug under the corner as seen in the picture.

View attachment 46676

Here's where the fun begins. So the red part of the wire is exposed right under the dash once you remove the center trim piece a few steps ago. This picture is taken as I'm lying on the floor of the passenger foot well. As you can see in this picture, the wire is in a plastic clip right above the red part and then it runs parallel to the dash edge before connecting to a harness that is under the wires seen in this photo. If you put the two USB parts side by side you will have an idea of where the blue harness is by following the length of the wire. You can easily free the wire from the plastic clip by the red marker, so at this point the only thing connected is the blue harness.

View attachment 46677

I laid down on the passenger side of the front row to get the best access to the harness where my head was resting where a passenger's feet would be and I'm looking up to the right. Tugging gently on the center trim piece to give me some room with my left hand, I used my phone's light and laid it beside my head and grabbed the harness with my right hand. You can easily move the other wires out of the way and you will see the blue harness. It is connected to a silver part where there are 3 harnesses or so side by side, and at this orientation it is the right-most plug (towards the driver side). If you look at your new plug, you will see there's a plastic clip on the side where you want to depress the top part to free things up (reference the first picture). If I had smaller hands this part would have been much easier but eventually I got it freed.

After the old piece is removed then you are home free. Insert the blue harness from the new part back into the now open plug (make sure you study the orientation of the harness before removing it- the clip part should be facing away from you). Then run the wire back under the plastic dash and insert the wire back into the plastic clip by the red marker.

Then pop the corner of the center dash trim piece back into place and connect the white harness and the USB harness back into place (there's a yellow TOP sticker to help with orientation). Be sure to reconnect the 12V power adapter harness as well. Grab the center trim piece and pop it back into place by pushing where the four white clips are. Put the 10 mm bolt back in then the felt cover, and pop the two plastic clips on each side.

Hopefully I will have no more Carplay issues now. If you are as frustrated with the intermittent dropping and the dealer as I was, hopefully this will be helpful to somebody!

Like many of you, I eventually developed the intermittent USB issue where the connection is randomly interrupted and the music or phone call is stopped, then it reconnects (maybe) after a few seconds. Sometimes it can happen 3 times in a row, and sometimes it doesn't happen for a day or two.

I had my 5000 mile service a few weeks ago, and the dealer said "all is well" with the USB port, so they refused to address it under warranty. Despite this being a widespread issue, to my knowledge Hyundai has not acknowledged it with a TSB. I realize that I could probably try to take a video and make multiple trips to a dealer to have it fixed under warranty, but time is money and the part to fix it is $66 and my labor is free.

As a disclaimer, proceed at your own risk, etc etc. If you are not handy then try to get it done under warranty. I've hard-wired dash cams in at least 5 different vehicles now (most are not as easy as the I5 with the Dongar), so I have familiarity with removing trim pieces and working with harnesses but I am not a mechanical guru by any stretch. Most of this is very easy with really the only issue being freeing up the blue harness. I did not disconnect any batteries for this.

The part number is 96120-GI000 (that's the letter I after G, not a 1), and I ordered it from Lakeland Hyundai for $66.74 shipped. It took a week to get to me.

View attachment 46670

As you see the part consists of the main USB harness that plugs into the plastic floor trim piece, and two connectors - one with a white harness that is super easy to replace, and one with a blue harness that is a PITA. You can see in the upper right corner of the picture where the blue harness has a small rectangular clip on the side where you push the top part to free it. Notice also the red and white tape on the wire as this will help you locate the OEM wire under the dash.

The first steps are very easy and involve removing the plastic trim piece and cubby on the floor. Start by using a flathead screwdriver to remove the two plastic clips on the left and right side. If you slide the screwdriver under the center circle to pop it up, the clips will easily come out. Then use the flathead screwdriver in the notch under the felt piece to remove it which reveals a 10 mm hex head bolt.

View attachment 46671

View attachment 46672

Once those three things are removed, the plastic trim piece should be easily to rock back and forth. There are four plastic clips at the top that hold the piece in. If you kinda rock it some and put gentle pressure on the sides you should be able to eventually free up the entire trim piece. Do not yank with all of your might as there are two wires connected to the USB port and the 12V adapter. There is some slack in the wires, but still be careful.

View attachment 46673

This is what the underside of the plastic piece looks like. Unclip the 12V adapter harness and then push on the clips on both sides of the rectangular black USB harness to remove it (you can look at the new USB part for reference on where to push). Once these two wires are free you can put the big plastic trim piece out of the way.

View attachment 46678

This is how it looks once the USB harness is removed. The white harness connection is seen in the background, and the blue PITA connector is under the dash. You can unclip the white harness connector now.

View attachment 46675

So for my hands to fit under the dash, I had to loosen the trim piece to give me room. The lower dash is made of three plastic trim pieces - under the steering wheel, the center part, and the glove compartment. The part of the center trim piece next to the steering wheel is connected to a lot of pieces and is not easily freed. The bottom right of the center trim piece is easily loosened by a gentle tug under the corner as seen in the picture.

View attachment 46676

Here's where the fun begins. So the red part of the wire is exposed right under the dash once you remove the center trim piece a few steps ago. This picture is taken as I'm lying on the floor of the passenger foot well. As you can see in this picture, the wire is in a plastic clip right above the red part and then it runs parallel to the dash edge before connecting to a harness that is under the wires seen in this photo. If you put the two USB parts side by side you will have an idea of where the blue harness is by following the length of the wire. You can easily free the wire from the plastic clip by the red marker, so at this point the only thing connected is the blue harness.

View attachment 46677

I laid down on the passenger side of the front row to get the best access to the harness where my head was resting where a passenger's feet would be and I'm looking up to the right. Tugging gently on the center trim piece to give me some room with my left hand, I used my phone's light and laid it beside my head and grabbed the harness with my right hand. You can easily move the other wires out of the way and you will see the blue harness. It is connected to a silver part where there are 3 harnesses or so side by side, and at this orientation it is the right-most plug (towards the driver side). If you look at your new plug, you will see there's a plastic clip on the side where you want to depress the top part to free things up (reference the first picture). If I had smaller hands this part would have been much easier but eventually I got it freed.

After the old piece is removed then you are home free. Insert the blue harness from the new part back into the now open plug (make sure you study the orientation of the harness before removing it- the clip part should be facing away from you). Then run the wire back under the plastic dash and insert the wire back into the plastic clip by the red marker.

Then pop the corner of the center dash trim piece back into place and connect the white harness and the USB harness back into place (there's a yellow TOP sticker to help with orientation). Be sure to reconnect the 12V power adapter harness as well. Grab the center trim piece and pop it back into place by pushing where the four white clips are. Put the 10 mm bolt back in then the felt cover, and pop the two plastic clips on each side.

Hopefully I will have no more Carplay issues now. If you are as frustrated with the intermittent dropping and the dealer as I was, hopefully this will be helpful to somebody!

Are you still having no issues? I had a 2015 Leaf, and after several years the USB connection became intermittent and then stopped working. I replaced the port, to find the problem was somewhere deeper in the wiring, and left it at that. To have the same issue after only a few months with my I5 is very disheartening. I otherwise love the car. Thanks very much for this information.

 

[Hodog16]

Sure, so far so good on the new harness. Have not had any drop out.

 

[agentshiv]

Just did this on Thursday using your steps and it was spot on. So far no drop outs. One thing to add that helped me out was to use a flat head screwdriver to help depress the clip on the old blue connector on the side closest to the steering wheel if you can't reach your finger all the way up there. I did not use any grease on the connections. Really appreciate the time you spent to document all of this, you saved me hours from going to the multiple dealers since the closest one by me rejected the repair.

I ended up first placing an order at Boucher Hyundai for the part through oempartsonline.com and got an email the next day saying they are not an EV dealer and cannot sell the part to me. I then went ahead and ordered through Lakeland. However I later found out that you can change the dealer at oempartsonline.com at the bottom to an EV dealer like Braman Hyundai. They have lower shipping costs at least for my location, so just FYI for anyone else attempting this.

 

[kyle.hodgson]

Awesome thanks!

 

[Hodog16]

Just did this on Thursday using your steps and it was spot on. So far no drop outs. One thing to add that helped me out was to use a flat head screwdriver to help depress the clip on the old blue connector on the side closest to the steering wheel if you can't reach your finger all the way up there. I did not use any grease on the connections. Really appreciate the time you spent to document all of this, you saved me hours from going to the multiple dealers since the closest one by me rejected the repair.

I ended up first placing an order at Boucher Hyundai for the part through oempartsonline.com and got an email the next day saying they are not an EV dealer and cannot sell the part to me. I then went ahead and ordered through Lakeland. However I later found out that you can change the dealer at oempartsonline.com at the bottom to an EV dealer like Braman Hyundai. They have lower shipping costs at least for my location, so just FYI for anyone else attempting this.

Thanks for the feedback and glad it helped! I actually tried a screwdriver and some other tools before I finally got some pliers and went to town on the blue clip. Ended up breaking the original harness but got it out!

 

[dragz]

FYI, everyone I fixed this issue by just disconnecting the USB harness (both connectors) and applying a tiny bit of noalox conductive grease to the pins (you could try without the grease). Have not had the issue since. I assume it was a bad connection because it would drop out when using the heater in the car and the thermal expansion or heat cycling caused the bad connection. Also tapping the center console could cause it to drop out.

I got curious and decided to have a look behind the mid section but couldn't reach the blue connector so I reconnected the white one and put everything back together. It's been two days now and it's been dead stable!? Just wiggling the cables around seems to help. We'll see how long it takes before it starts to deteriorate again. AA was stable for the first month or so when I got the car.

 

[lslick23]

Just did the cable swap today and crossing my fingers this works long term. Thanks again @Hodog16

 

[dbldwn02]

Put some NOALOX on the blue connector. We'll see how it goes. It's working right now so that means I didn't jack it up any worse than it was.

Food for thought. If NOALOX has zinc particles in it to promote conductivity (per the label), how come it has no continuity (OL) when I touch a pea size glob with both probes of a multimeter? 🤔🤔🤔

 

[Blucid]

>Put some NOALOX on the blue connector. We'll see how it goes. It's working right now so that means I didn't jack it up any worse than it was.

Food for thought. If NOALOX has zinc particles in it to promote conductivity (per the label), how come it has no continuity (OL) when I touch a pea size glob with both probes of a multimeter? 🤔🤔🤔

NOALOX is an insulator, which works similar to a dielectric grease by preventing oxidation. In addition NOALOX is formulated to specifically prevent aluminum oxidation. It is difficult to tell if in this application NOALOX has any advantage over any good quality electrical dielectric grease. Probably what happens is that moving the connectors breaks any oxidation or corrosion by the surfaces moving against each other, then the NOALOX protects (by air/moisture barrier) the pins from oxidizing again. I suspect any dielectric grease would work the same, possibly better, and probably less mess. A high quality dielectric grease commonly used in connectors (e.g. Dow Corning 4 or MOLYKOTE 4) has the consistency of a relatively light translucent grease.

NOALOX is designed to chemically interact with aluminum and aluminum oxide. It is mostly commonly used in high voltage electrical applications (e.g. big 600V cable lug termination). Some electricians have been arguing that it is less relevant to modern electrical aluminum alloys. Others advise to use it only when the electrical component documentation or a regulation specifically calls for NOALOX.

The blurb below mentions galvanic corrosion. There are posts about how humid the inside of an I5 can be, some recently mentioning ice on the inside of the windows in the morning. My guess is that the pins in the connectors Hyundai used in this connector may not be compatible with each other (possibly different metals or different alloys), which in high humidity, might be promoting corrosion. Or, one or both may just be particularly susceptible to atmospheric corrosion. Any dielectric grease might have same benefit by covering the connector pin metal as a moisture / air barrier.

Unless this is a happy accident where NOALOX just happens to work particularly well for these pin type metals, I suspect that NOALOX is not the best choice in this application. Update: Another consideration is that NOALOX can harden over time. That means if the connectors have to be dissassmbled again some months or years later, the connector on the car harness side might be permanently damaged. Silicone dielectric grease does not harden and remains a lubricant.

Here is a blurb from Mike Holt's electrician forum: Oxide inhibitor use is considered good workmanship for all 600-volt terminations, whether wired with copper or aluminum conductors. The oxide inhibitor provides a barrier at the connection point that excludes moisture and other potentially damaging environmental substances. Oxide inhibitor must be compatible with the conductor type. Different manufacturers make compounds that can be used with copper only, aluminum only, or both copper and aluminum. Be sure to choose the compound listed for the application. Compression connectors often come pre-filled with the appropriate oxide inhibitor. When connectors are tested for compliance with UL 486B, the conductor is prohibited to be wire brushed or abraded, and oxide inhibitor may only be used if the connector is pre-filled with the antioxidant. Therefore, mechanical set-screw terminations are tested without wire brushing and oxide inhibitor. According to the UL GuideInfo (UL White Book) for wire connectors (ZMVV), oxide inhibitor for aluminum or copper wire may be used if the connector manufacturer recommends its use on the connector documentation. Oxide inhibitor is of the most value when making connections between uncoated copper and aluminum. This type of connection is subject to galvanic corrosion when in the presence of an electrolyte. Since most lugs today are made of tin-plated aluminum, galvanic corrosion is limited except in the case of severe electrolytic environment or significant damage to the connector plating.

 

[lslick23]

I‘m happy to report that since I swapped the cable assembly it’s been working perfect and better than it ever did since new. The second I plug in it connects now instead of me having to do it multiple times to connect. I even started using the wireless dongle I had purchased and thought it was faulty, but it’s been working perfectly!

 

[dbldwn02]

I‘m happy to report that since I swapped the cable assembly it’s been working perfect and better than it ever did since new. The second I plug in it connects now instead of me having to do it multiple times to connect. I even started using the wireless dongle I had purchased and thought it was faulty, but it’s been working perfectly!

Which brand dongle did you go with? Android Auto or Apple CarPlay? I'm thinking of doing the same thing.

I haven't had any issues since reseating the connector with NOALUX. The big test comes tomorrow with a 2 hour road trip.

 

[lslick23]

Which brand dongle did you go with? Android Auto or Apple CarPlay? I'm thinking of doing the same thing.

I haven't had any issues since reseating the connector with NOALUX. The big test comes tomorrow with a 2 hour road trip.

I’m using Apple CarPlay with the CPLAY2AIR dongle.

 

[Cruzer]

FYI, everyone I fixed this issue by just disconnecting the USB harness (both connectors) and applying a tiny bit of noalox conductive grease to the pins (you could try without the grease). Have not had the issue since. I assume it was a bad connection because it would drop out when using the heater in the car and the thermal expansion or heat cycling caused the bad connection. Also tapping the center console could cause it to drop out.

 

[Cruzer]

Which brand dongle did you go with? Android Auto or Apple CarPlay? I'm thinking of doing the same thing.

I haven't had any issues since reseating the connector with NOALUX. The big test comes tomorrow with a 2 hour road trip.

Is your fix still working? I followed your example last week, and the connection has been perfect, after barely working for several weeks. Curious as to whether this will last, or I’ll need the new harness.

 

[Sibev]

Like all of you, I experienced problems with the USB / CarPlay connection in my Ioniq 5 only weeks after taking possession of it early last year. After several visits to the dealership, and jumping through all of the usual hoops (different cables/devices/cleaning lightning port/ software updates etc etc.) they agreed to replace the USB connector in November last year. Problem solved. The CarPlay worked seamlessly with all of my family's devices . . . for about 3-4 weeks. 🤬😤 Just before Christmas, the USB connection started to drop out again. Occasionally at first, but now seemingly every few seconds, and in some cases, no connection can be established at all.

I think I may be the first person (that I have seen) whose original and replacement USB have failed - and this is making me think that the Hyundai parts are flawed, or lat least degrade very quickly. Which - if true, could be remedied by the Noalux trick.

So . . . How is it going with all of you who have replaced the USB connector themselves as per Hodog16 's (excellent) instructions? Have any of your fixes also failed within 3 / 4 weeks?

Drives me mad that a brand new vehicle, which ain't cheap, is exhibiting these flaws. It's a great car - but this seemingly tiny error is winding me up every time I drive.

 

[Neil F]

Knock on wood, .....mine has seemed to have improved (fixed?) somehow. Note the I5 is the wife's daily driver and I handle the longer drives. I primarily use carplay and had noted the issues more than her. Most of the time when it occurred was at the start of use and would lessen or not occur after 45 min into a drive

• Had the I5 for 4 1/2 months now
• First 1- 1 1/2 month Carplay worked fine then started to get a drop out or two when a drive started
• 2 - 3 months it would connect in/out pretty frequently, again at the start of a drive. There was suggestion in this thread that cold weather and usage of cabin heat may be a cause. I bought a small tube of NOALUX at Home depot for $5 in preparation to try it
• 4 months, I noticed I was not getting (or as many) dropouts
• Just did a 5 day road trip with me using carplay a lot and scared to say, I did not have any dropouts as far as I could tell. I had not used the NOALUX yet. Had not touched any of the connectors or iphone cables to the USB port. No software changes.
• (I am sure I have jinxed myself now)

 

[Sibev]

Knock on wood, .....mine has seemed to have improved (fixed?) somehow. Note the I5 is the wife's daily driver and I handle the longer drives. I primarily use carplay and had noted the issues more than her. Most of the time when it occurred was at the start of use and would lessen or not occur after 45 min into a drive

• Had the I5 for 4 1/2 months now
• First 1- 1 1/2 month Carplay worked fine then started to get a drop out or two when a drive started
• 2 - 3 months it would connect in/out pretty frequently, again at the start of a drive. There was suggestion in this thread that cold weather and usage of cabin heat may be a cause. I bought a small tube of NOALUX at Home depot for $5 in preparation to try it
• 4 months, I noticed I was not getting (or as many) dropouts
• Just did a 5 day road trip with me using carplay a lot and scared to say, I did not have any dropouts as far as I could tell. I had not used the NOALUX yet. Had not touched any of the connectors or iphone cables to the USB port. No software changes.
• (I am sure I have jinxed myself now)

Glad to hear that it isn't too bad for you Neil. Fingers crossed. Although clearly this issue doesn't affect ALL Ioniq 5s - otherwise Hyundai would be doing something about it. Also the fault is very much intermittent. My connection can last half an hour, or two seconds. But when the car was new, and when the more recent USB connector was installed, there was a period of 'grace' where the thing worked perfectly for a couple of weeks . . . then started to fail. And that's a very familiar pattern with SO many posts on this site.

It's a massive pain, and I have wasted countless hours trying to sort it out. The Ioniq 5's own Nav/Traffic system (without CarPlay) so clunky. And the existence of CarPlay was a contributory factor that swayed me in the direction of this car over one or two competitors. I am unlikely to buy another Hyundai again, that's for sure.

 

[Jsbowl16]

I put the Noalox on six weeks ago today and it hasn't dropped once since doing that. Before that it would happen most days for me and sometimes do it every few minutes. Like you, it originally worked for about a month after buying the car and then got wonky. I have the part and was waiting to return it but now that I saw your post, I might as well return it. One other thing to note is that I am using wireless Motorola MA1 for wireless Android auto but I have it plugged in via a 1 ft USB extension cable so that I never have to pull the plug out of the USB connector in the car. If I need to unplug it, I unplug it from the extension cable because I want minimal wear and tear on the USB port in the car.

 

[Sibev]

I put the Noalox on six weeks ago today and it hasn't dropped once since doing that. Before that it would happen most days for me and sometimes do it every few minutes. Like you, it originally worked for about a month after buying the car and then got wonky. I have the part and was waiting to return it but now that I saw your post, I might as well return it. One other thing to note is that I am using wireless Motorola MA1 for wireless Android auto but I have it plugged in via a 1 ft USB extension cable so that I never have to pull the plug out of the USB connector in the car. If I need to unplug it, I unplug it from the extension cable because I want minimal wear and tear on the USB port in the car.

Ok. That's good to hear! Glad you've found a remedy that's stuck! (Are you listening Hyundai!?)
I will buy some Noalux and have a crack at it this weekend! Presumably you took the whole panel off to access all the connection points? Rather than just pouring it into the USB socket as some posts have suggested (but which seems a bit dodgy!)

 

[Jsbowl16]

I disconnected it at the two connectors and just put a layer of Noalox on the blue/black plug and the white plug where the pins go in and then plugged them back in so the pins would get some on them when it gets plugged in and then put it back together. I didn't put it on the metal pins directly because it was hard to get my fingers in to do it and I didn't want to bend any of them so I just put it on what I guess would be called the female end of each plug since it is the holes where the pins go in. I didn't put any on the port where you plug in your USB cable that can be seen from outside the console.