EF24-105L sticking aperture (Err 01)

I was out with my 6D and 24-105 yesterday when I got an err 01... communication with lens. From looking around, it seems to be a known issue with this lens and the culprit is usually the ribbon cable to the aperture module. The only thing is, most of the stuff I've read about it suggests that this problem occurs after a couple of years (possibly all from a bad batch) but I've had my lens for over six years. What are the chances that its the blades themselves that are sticking rather than the ribbon cable?

I guess the question I have is, what difference does it make? Just send the lens to Canon and get a quote. Neither of those failure modes are likely to be prohibitively expensive to fix.

Clean the contacts just to be sure. But either wsh canon will quote you a repair price before work, unless you were thinking of a DIY repair.