So I was reading on people changing their shift actuator, doing everything from taking out the steering rack, hours of frustration or a 1k dealer labor charge. I didn't get many pictures since I was already halfway into the job and it was dark. But its easy enough to understand. Taking off the left front wheel, jack up the car and put your jackstand and wheel under the car for good measure, set parking brake and disconnect 12v battery to prevent codes. Reaching underneath you can easily reach and loosen the bottom 2 T-30 star bolts within minutes. The top bolt is what is concealed. But theres a better way. An access door, of sorts. Reach between the brake pedal and gas pedal and peel back the carpet, exposing a black plastic steering shaft cover and 2 white nuts you can remove by hand. Take off the cover and theres a metal ring with clip on top. Remove the ring and you can push down the rubber boot in the firewall, tucking it down and to the right. Now the top bolt is exposed behind the steering linkage. You can prop a flashlight up under the dash to see what you're doing. This job was actually easier at night because a flashlight doesn't help much during the day. Using your T 30 on a swivel extension, use a piece of 2 inch tape wrapped around the extension to hold it straight. You can now remove the top bolt through some trial and error. I went from the left of the steering shaft. Go back underneath and push the connector up with a flathead. Tuck it away to the left. Remove and replace with new. Put the spindle in separately first, making sure the outer metal teeth are seated and flush before replacing the cover. Put everything back and you're good to go. I had to do it twice to reseat the gear because I put them in together the first time and the gear will not seat that way. If any issue repeat procedure and reset 12v battery negative to clear codes.
Nice bit of information! I hope I never have to do this, but your post will be very helpful if needed. Thanks! SM-N950U ?
Thanks. I see that the repair manual does refer to this as the shift control actuator, but does not mention any need for access via the passenger compartment. I appreciate your sharing your experience and the photos of the steering column as it goes through the passenger cabin floor. I am wondering if anything in particular caused this part to fail, as I haven't noticed many posts about replacing the shift control actuator.
Shift actuator failure is not that uncommon. The top bolt is the fussy one. Can be a real pain sometimes, even when doing via the steering column access route.
@09Prius2 Thank you for posting these instructions and pictures, really appreciate it. Just to make sure, did do this because you had a P3102 code/ “There is a problem with the transmission P lock mechanism.” message too?
Sometimes it you have p lock issue it can be fixed by inserting a jumper wire. This video explains it. Blue wire loses 12v power. Which causes the issue.
Yeah this was the solution I tried first, but no luck. I did end up replacing the shift actuator as well a few weeks ago, but I still have the P3102 and the intermittent P lock mechanism message. Any ideas for what I could try next?
