2007 prius trunk hatch release rubber piece melted

If your switch is still working and all you need is to replace the rubber cover, diy it. I went to Home Depot, look in the shower and tub section for the waterproof shower and tub underlayment. They should have pieces of scrap laying around, locate a piece just larger than what you need and see if they will give it to you.
Trim piece to size, drill holes for the screws, clean area thoroughly, put silicone bead for water proofing, place piece on aligning screw holes let set, and put screws back in. This method didn't cost me anything, but time and effort. After about 4 years, it's still going strong.

 

Good idea. I just bought the piece of Ebay for $16.95. It seems like its a simple screw job.

In the mean time I cleaned the area with a degreaser and it seems to have take off most of the black gunk until I get the piece and make the install. What a bizarre piece to become like that on a car.

 

If your switch is still working and all you need is to replace the rubber cover, diy it. I went to Home Depot, look in the shower and tub section for the waterproof shower and tub underlayment. They should have pieces of scrap laying around, locate a piece just larger than what you need and see if they will give it to you.

Trim piece to size, drill holes for the screws, clean area thoroughly, put silicone bead for water proofing, place piece on aligning screw holes let set, and put screws back in. This method didn't cost me anything, but time and effort. After about 4 years, it's still going strong.

 

You should plan to remove the hatch garnish piece from the hatch, as it is almost impossible to loosen the Phillips screws with the garnish mounted to the hatch. That 90 degree screwdriver does not allow sufficient torque to be applied to the screws.

 

Bluesman,
Here is a pdf of the tools and parts. Hope it helps.

 

Having seen this thread, I paid $297.88 to my independent repair shop to replace my switch because the rubber had disintegrated.

NOW I discovered that Amazon sells a cover from ieworksusa.com for $13.95

with an installation video at youtu.be/qRkWJ-bDiwc.

What am I missing--why have people been replacing the entire switch rather than just the rubber?

 

I think that the switch cover has been available on Amazon for only a couple of years - and it took a while for the group to realize its availability.

 

The rubber piece on Amazon is not as high quality as the OEM product, but at 15% of the OEM price, probably worth it

 

Patrick said it -- the aftermarket parts have only been available for the past couple of years.

And, replacing the thing is a bit of a pain. As long as I am mostly tearing it down anyway, I would rather spend the extra $40-- EKK -- and get the original part and replace the whole thing rather than gamble that I might have to go through all this one more time.

Sometimes -- as Click&Clack used to say -- it is the cheapskate that ends up paying the most (Time and $$).

 

I took the easy and cheap route here. Just took the switch off (the 2 screws, using a 90 degree screwdriver), removed what was left of the gooey rubber piece, put the switch back in, and stuck a piece of black duct tape (cut to size) over the whole thing. It has been 4 years now and still works fine.

With this problem the switch is still good. It is only the rubber cover piece that goes bad so why replace the whole switch? Duct tape to the rescue!

 

Duct tape – 1001 uses!

 

I did mine today on my 2007. It had been slowly melting for the past 12 years, in the part of the USA where it can be over 110 for weeks. I guess the previous owner lived with it. Goo was all over that area of the hatch, and down inside the switch itself. I went the 'dissassemble and replace rubber' route. Money, about $20 (since i already had tools), time, about 2 hours.

Materials

1. deep socket 10 mm (or 7/16 if SAE) + kit
   
2. few phillips screwdrivers
3. flat tool, like screwdriver or prytool from iFixit
   
4. pick (almost like a dental tool, available at auto parts store)
5. 2008 Toyota Prius Liftgate Release Switch Seal - 926-098 Dorman - $8.98 from partsgeek
6. lots of paper towels
7. a work place to get extremely filthy
   
8. dish soap (seventh generation)
   
9. baking soda
   
10. containers for liquid
11. old toothbrush
    
12. hobby knife / razor blades (home store paint section)
13. compressed air

Research

1. youtube + prius chat switch removal from Prius hatch

Garnish removal

1. powered off
2. lifted hatch
3. popped off black cover. need to buy a clip removal tool, but ill leave it for another time.
   
4. located four long post bolts holding on back "garnish" (plastic piece with Toyota symbol on outside of car)
5. unbolted 4 bolts with deep socket
6. unplugged backup camera and switch
7. went to outside of car, gently pulled Garnish away
   
8. gently pulled wires and plug out with grommet

Switch dissasembly

1. scraped away enough of the goo to be able to identify switch parts
2. unscrewed 2 screws that were holding rubber before it became goo
3. removed switch assembly from Garnish
   
4. popped off the back of the switch by poking pick into hole on side, pried up with prytool
   
5. gently pried out microswitch with pick
   
6. removed final piece of switch, which had small metal bar attached
7. discovered its not necessary to remove smartlock button (destroyed the screwheads, too tight)

Cleaning

1. put switch covers (not microswitch!) into jar with water and a lot of soap. (alcohol/vinegar didn't work)
2. Made a thick paste of soap and baking soda, brushed onto parts of Garnish that were gooey
   
3. waited several hours, water became black as goo dissolved.
   
4. rinsed, scrubbed with brush, re-soaked, repeated until sufficiently clean
5. dried parts with paper towels, compressed air

Reassembly

1. test fit rubber piece over switch. it actually encloses the top part of switch and is molded to fit the nubs on the switch assembly. i prefer this to tape or a rubber pad, as this would seem to prevent ingress of moisture, debris, liquid.
   
2. fits "two ways", aligned ridge with ridge on switch. Ridge towards front of car.
3. played around with reassembly, its a slight puzzle since microswitch, cover, rubber, and screws must be in specific order
   
4. reattached Garnish to hatch, and black hatch panel to hatch.

Tested

1. power off
2. hatch down
3. smartlock works
4. hatch button works

Cleaning goo off hands, tools

1. baking soda
2. dish soap

Thanks

 

I don't think you should have needed to unplug the camera. I didn't when I just did mine.

 

I also have a 2006 late model Prous Gen 2 and for past 2 winters now trunk stops working in cold weather. I put a call into Toyota Jan 2020 and currently no recall but asked for reply on what parameters are needed for a recall to be made. Cust service had no idea. Since this seems to transcend years and models there has got to be a large number of customers impacted. Although not horrendously expensive, clearly a major inconvenience and possible threat in certain circumstance. Here is pic of number to call. I will report back with their response promised to me in 24 hours. K.

 

You want Toyota to do a safety recall on a 2006 because the trunk rubber needs to be replaced? Maybe you should just ask them for a goodwill warranty on that piece and they'll ask a dealership to replace that piece for you only. It won't involve them issuing a recall to all affected cars that will end up costing them millions of dollars.

I made the request for them to pay for my 2008 several years ago and they gave me a $500 allowance to get it repaired/replaced

 

I had the same problem with both of my 2009 Prius. When the first one melted away I phoned Toyota and they gave me a credit. My service tech at the dealer told me what to say and he was pretty much on the mark. Toyota would not accept responsibility but gave me a goodwill credit on the repair. When the part failed on my second 2009 Prius I cut a piece of gorilla duct tape to size and stuck it over the melting plastic. I replaced the duct tape every few years and it worked fine till I sold both 2009 Prius. Recently I ordered a 2020 Prius Prime which should be delivered in 2 months. I still miss the 2009 Prius. Love the look of that car.

 

This exact issue happened with my 2008 Prius in Cincinnati. It does get as hot here as it does in Florida.

I bought the $10 part and $6 offset screwdriver set from Amazon. It took several hours of working the melted piece off with Goo Gone spray and the elbow grease help of my 15-year-old son, but after all was said and done, my 2008 trunk release is very inexpensively fixed as good as new. The dealer wanted at least $150, and I paid $16 to do it ourselves. The labor cost alone would have been exorbitant. If there is anything wrong with the electrical component, you would have to replace the entire assembly, vs. just the rubber cover, and that’s what the dealer said they were required to do (they don’t want to take any chances just replacing the cover, and probably don’t want to take many hours to meticulously clean the old assembly like we did).