This must have been discussed before. When it gets cold, I can't open the hatchback door. (Saw a guy in the parking lot having the same problem). When it's hot, the hatchback handle gets sticky. Don't know if these two issues are related or not. I have a Prius 08. Any ideas? Thanks
Yes, I remember this issue; some sort of solvent is dissolving the rubber on the switch. Replacement is the simplest option.
no solvent other than heat is involved. Dealer will tell you the whole switch is the only way to replace it, which seems stupid. I am looking for a small sheet of silicone to use instead, something non-reactive and more stable than the rubber.
Somebody's been there...done that. In fact, I'm gonna do that to my daughter's Prius when it returns next week.
Its interesting, after a few years in Phoenix our '08 had this issue as well. The material over the button was sticky and had worn through completely in places. It was starting to fail intermittently when we traded it last year. My '05 has never developed this trait though. No hint of stickiness, and no real signs of wear. Must have changed something along the way there at some point.
From what I've read, it appears to have been a manufacturing defect on the rubber compound Toyota used on some models at some plants. Toyota corrected in later years. It's not limited to hot climates, and not all cars exhibited this defect.
Thanks guys for replying to the "hot" issue. I ended up taking off the sticky rubber and replaced it with electrical tape last summer. It worked just fine until it got cold again and the hatchback won't open. So I still have this "cold" issue, which has been bothering me for many winters.
That area picks up a lot of water from car runoff and from the road when it rains. My suspicion is that the poor cover allows water into the switch and it seems very possible that the water might cause the switch to short out. Does the issue pertain to wet/cold primarily or does it also happen in dry/cold? If you experience this primarily in wet/cold, a new water-resistant switch cover may help. If it also happens in dry/cold, then I suspect that you may have a bad wire which would indicate that you may need to replace the entire switch assembly. Good news there is, while not free, a replacement switch is very affordable at about $75 for the switch and easy to replace yourself. There is at least one post on this board which describes the procedure. If you are experiencing additional electrical issues when it's cold, that may point to a marginally weak 12v battery. If your 12v battery is more than 5-6 years old, you may want to consider replacing that.
The 12v battery is only one year old; it doesn't matter if it's wet or dry, once the temp drops into the 30's, the hatch goes hibernated and doesn't react to either my hand under the handle or the fob. When it turns warm it'll wake up and work just fine.
that's kinda weird. might be the melted rubber cover hardens up and sticks the switch. have to take it apart and see if its gummed up. I bit the bullet and bought a new switch off ebay. sure hope it isn't made of the inferior rubber.
Obviously I can't see firsthand the problem you're having, but I'd speculate that to solve the issue you'll need to replace the entire switch assembly. If you wanted to start with half-measures (Mike would say no), you could try to follow the DIY thread linked above and clean/replace the rubber only and see what happens. It's almost free and would take less than an hour, I think. Don't have any silver bullets for you.
I have a 2007 Toyota base model and my hatchback Would not open either. After taking things apart, took my meter the switch was clean and checked out good. Someone years ago, had cleaned up the gunk so I had another issue with it. So I’ll get right to it The thing that was wrong with mine was a bad connection. After pulling the cover off, allowing access to the locking mechanism, I saw the wiring harness. Unplug the harness,cleaned the connectors plugged it back in and now the hatchback works properly. So if you try everything and it still doesn’t work, try the connectors because it did work for my prius.
