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How to Replace the Hatch Opening Switch

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Patrick Wong, Apr 2, 2010.

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  1. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    My 2007 has 19K miles. The rubber cover on the hatch opening switch above the license plate was starting to deteriorate, so I decided to replace it. (Is this evidence of Toyota's cost-reduction program? My 2004 with 100K miles shows no evidence of wear on its corresponding switch.)

    MSRP is $94, I paid $71 plus shipping at Champion Toyota in Houston. Part number is 84905-47010. This assembly includes the hatch opening switch as well as the little black squarish switch that allows you to lock the Smart-equipped Prius.

    If you need to replace the switch, the job is not difficult. Open the hatch and pull off the black cover. It is held on by 11 blue plastic clips. Grab one corner and pull until it becomes loose, then you can remove the remaining corners.

    You will have to remove the plastic trim plate that is over the license plate lights. It is held on with four nuts. Use a 10 mm deep socket to remove the nuts.

    You'll see a wiring harness for the two switches that goes through a rubber moisture seal. Disconnect the wiring harness connector and remove the seal from the hatch hole. Then you can snake the wiring harness through the hole and remove the plastic trim plate.

    The hatch opening switch is secured with two Phillips self-tapping screws. The lock switch is secured with three Phillips machine screws. Unfortunately, two of the three latter screws refused to budge when using a #2 screwdriver. I ended up drilling out the two screws, then bought replacements at the local hardware store. M4, 10 mm length.

    The new screws fit my #2 screwdriver tip perfectly. That screwdriver slipped on the old screws, while a #1 screwdriver was too small. (More evidence of cost-cutting?)

    When replacing the trim plate, be careful to put the top edge of the plate under the rubber gasket between the hatch glass and that plate.

    Photos:

    1. Part number
    2. Inside of hatch with cover removed. See the white wiring harness connector in the center of the photo. Disconnect that in preparation for removing the plastic trim plate.
    3. One of the four nuts holding the plastic trim plate
    4. View of old switch, see the hole in the rubber and the generally nasty and deteriorated condition! The rubber stuck to the trim plate like glue, I had to scrape it off after the switch was removed. :eek:
    5. Underside of plastic trim plate with the old switches still in place. The hatch opening switch is on the left, while the Smart lock switch is on the right along with the wiring harness tail.
     

    Attached Files:

    #1 Patrick Wong, Apr 2, 2010
    Prius Pete, kdewester, DJSII and 16 others like this.
  2. 2009Prius

    2009Prius A Wimpy DIYer

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    Great info as always! :)

    Is it possible to just replace the rubber with some other rubber and some sealant?
     
    #2 2009Prius, Apr 2, 2010
  3. deeno

    deeno Junior Member

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    Weird, I have an '07 too. I'll have to take a look at mine after work to see what it looks like. Must get real hot over there in AZ....
     
    #3 deeno, Apr 2, 2010
  4. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Well, it might be tough to properly seal the switch. The switch was beginning to be flaky so I would have replaced it even if the rubber had not eroded away.

    Actually the car was just shipped from Honolulu, so the ambient temp was not that hot. The 2004 was also subject to the same weather conditions for the first 3 years of its existence.
     
    #4 Patrick Wong, Apr 2, 2010
  5. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Thanks for the info and the walk through! My 07's hatch handle has turned into a bar of gooey soap too. My car is always garaged at home and at work too.
     
    #5 edthefox5, Apr 5, 2010
  6. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    No issue with my 2006. It appears only 2007 model year is affected?
     
    #6 usbseawolf2000, Apr 5, 2010
  7. deeno

    deeno Junior Member

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    I have an '07 and an '08, both are fine. The '07 is black too and we get our fair share of sun here in CA. Not sure what's up with this
     
    #7 deeno, Apr 5, 2010
  8. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Ed and Deeno: Production date of your vehicles?

    My 2007 was built in Sept. 2006. Maybe there was a bad batch of switches from the supplier.
     
    #8 Patrick Wong, Apr 5, 2010
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  9. deeno

    deeno Junior Member

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    My 2007 was built in Dec. 2006 according to the VIN sticker on the door
     
    #9 deeno, Apr 6, 2010
  10. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    The black metal plate on the front door sill with the bar code on it says 07/07.

    Which is quite a mystery to me as I purchased the car July 2nd 2007.

    I looked at it multiple times. Very odd.
     
    #10 edthefox5, Apr 8, 2010
  11. BAllanJ

    BAllanJ Active Member

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    They must have flown it over to you by overnight courier... had a bit more time for this due to the international date line.:D
     
    #11 BAllanJ, Apr 8, 2010
  12. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    I know.....crazy. Am I looking at the right plate? Its the plate on the righthand side driver door sill as you enter the car. Its black and at the top says TOYOTA MANU 07/07

    and then below that line gross vehicle weight and it has a bar code.

    I do know the car came in that very day I closed as I ordered that color and they had none in stock and had to wait 2 weeks.

    They flew it over just for me. I feel special.....
     
    #12 edthefox5, Apr 10, 2010
  13. Loyoyo

    Loyoyo Junior Member

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    Thanks for the info, Patrick. The rubber on my '07 switch (manufactured 10/06) has turned to black snot as well. It seems that Toyota may have gotten a batch of switches with defective rubber.
     
    #13 Loyoyo, Jun 1, 2010
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  14. andyprius

    andyprius Senior Member

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    Just curious why everybody that had this problem did not contact Toy HQ ? For every person that is active on PC there may be 10 that have had the same problem. It is not too late to recieve a reimbursement.
     
    #14 andyprius, Jun 21, 2010
  15. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    I don't wish to nickel-and-dime Toyota over a $71 part. They've got more important problems to deal with, and my car's 3-year warranty had expired...

    If the dust settles in another year, I might try to get new accelerator pedals for my 2004 and 2007. I'll let other PC members pave the road relative to getting new pedals first.
     
    #15 Patrick Wong, Jun 21, 2010
  16. manlyprius

    manlyprius Junior Member

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    After hearing the dealer quote me $326 to replace the switch, I removed the gummy tar remnant of the old one with acetone. I cut a piece of rubber sheet to fit around the switch. Remove the switch, wrap the rubber under the edges, replace and tighten screws. Looks and works great! I should send Toyota a bill.
     
    #16 manlyprius, Aug 21, 2010
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  17. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    I finally took my car in for this issue. First time its ever been to the dealer.
    By luck I took it in to the day I bought it 3 years ago.

    They honored my 3 yr warranty.

    New hatch switch. And they replaced the struts that hold the hatch up under warranty also. In fact they have been remarkably very nice. Even washed my car.

    They didn't door ding my car either. Maybe the fact that I told the service advisor if he scratched my car I was going to laser cannon his face out the back of his skull might have helped. Not sure....

    The service advisor told me to make sure I put "Excellent" on the service questionare that Toy Corporate would send me.

    And since I read some posts about people losing there floor mats I took mine out and let them do the recall on my pedal. Looks like they took the gas pedal to a bench grinder and knocked off about an inch off the the bottom but they did a good job on that also.

    I asked them to look at my front suspension struts too. The last time I changed the oil I noticed they had alot of oil covering the strut. A side benefit of doing your own oil change. You get to check out the bottom of the car real good.

    New struts under warranty coming soon also as they had to order them. A few days. I have been very lucky so far.

    New struts @ 29,000 miles.

    Very good service at Clearwater Toyota. Clearwater Florida.
     
    #17 edthefox5, Aug 25, 2010
  18. tommymommy

    tommymommy Member

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    Grrr...went to replace the switch tonight with the part my husband purchased a month or so ago from the dealership. They gave me the wrong part. Right number, but not the part for my car that is equipped with smart key.

    Now I have to wait another who knows how long to get the correct part in stock. Very frustrating!!
     
    #18 tommymommy, Aug 27, 2010
  19. tommymommy

    tommymommy Member

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    Correct part number for models equipped with Smart Key is 84905-47010.
     
    #19 tommymommy, Sep 1, 2010
  20. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    That is true, see my post #1 above.
     
    #20 Patrick Wong, Sep 1, 2010
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