I damaged the plug on this part while reinstalling the engine. Does anyone know what this part is called? This is obviously just a stock photo, but it is the black plastic component on the transmission, lower right. Thanks!
That is the transmission shift actuator. Its purpose is to engage the parking pawl of the transaxle to lock the vehicle from moving.
2012 Toyota Prius Three HYBRID Actuator assembly, shift control - 3558047020 | Joseph Toyota, Cincinnati OH
You may find the mounting bolts hard to remove because of an anti-theft design—this device is the antitheft provision on your car, as you'll notice the steering column does not lock as they used to on most cars, and those bolts with caps are what's supposed to slow somebody down from just removing the actuator and rolling the car away. (In Gen 2, they accomplished the same thing without special bolts, just by situating the actuator in a barely-reachable place on the other side of the tranny.) I've never tried, so I don't know how creative you have to get with those bolts and caps to remove them. In case you end up getting extra creative.... Bolt Cap Or you could put it back on with plain bolts of the right size and thread from the hardware store, but that would be defeating one of the purposes. -Chap Edit: I just watched the 16-minute stuff in the video above, and saw that he showed the security bolts in detail, though he never quite really guessed what they're there for....
Starting at the 24 minute mark he show the details of transmission shift actuator but doesn't remove it. There is a fairly good close up of the special security bolts used to keep people from stealing your Prius. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dHeRJdrnI8 Looks like a hex security bit should remove it but what size.
