kernel 41 - possible flex cable damaged?

[Nostro]

Machine: Hp pavilion gaming 15 ec2345ng

The problem:

About 1 week ago the laptop just shut down from nothing and wouldn't turn on (Just power button light on and black screen, no fans, no POST). I opened it up, disconnected the battery and turned it on, a message about the cmos being disconnected, pressed Enter and everything was ok.

3 days ago it happened again, repeated the same procedure and was back on.

Today it happened twice in a row so I checked the window error log and discovered all the Kernel 41 errors. Then it shut down again and i haven't been able to have the computer on for more than 10 minutes. Sometimes it turns on but shuts off without warning.

Now most of the time it just doesn't turn on (simply has the power button light ON but no fan movement).

The computer has 2x4gb ram sticks and i tried various combinations (1 stick, 2 sticks, no stick) and nothing works so i rulled out the ram.

Checked voltages and MB seems to be getting the correct voltage.

To rule out software being the source of the error, i removed the SSD from the computer to see if at least could boot to the hp bios diagnosis tool and same thing, doesn't turn on, just black screen and power button light on.

I did manage to turn it on twice and go to the bios diagnosis tool but 3 minutes in and it shuts down, so i can conclude it's either BIOS or Hardware related.

Out of curiosity I disconnected the cable that connects the mini card (with the power button) to the motherboard and found out what looks like a damaged pin. (First i thought it was me damaging it by removing it but it seems rather unlikely)

 

It almost looks burned.

My theory was that the computer would be sending signals to turn itself off or something.

Its a 20 pin cable ( i believe its 0.5mm pins)

I ran out of theories of what possibly could be causing the computer to shut down. 

Could this little cable be the cause of the computer shutting down? 

 

[Nostro]

Update

I did check the voltage coming out of the pins and it's about 5.12v on the 4 pins on the right and the "burned pin" also gives about the same voltage.

The next 4 pins on the left give about 3.33v

Also you can see the oxidation on that pin, where it's supposed to be insulated with plastic. The multimeter catches current from there too, i don't know how bad of a sign that can be