Issue with radio harness/connector

[Beachbummer]

My SX230 has a blue wiring plug that has somewhere from 21-24 pins that connect the original radio plug to the boat. I was troubleshooting no sound from a speaker yesterday, expecting the issue to be something I did when I installed my new Sony radio many months ago, and I traced the problem to this harness. I was able to "pinch" some of the round female plugs to make the connection work out, and the problem appeared to be repaired. The OEM connector that had this problem looks to be of very good quality, It's While with blue soft plastic inserts,it sits between the radio wiring on the boat and the radio plug. The pins don't seem easy to remove from the connector. (Special tool required? I tried wiggling and needle pliers and no luck )

I wanted to see if anyone else had experienced a similar problem, or had experience in dealing with issues with this harness.

Thanks!