I am one of the many victims of the defective Prius 2007 hatch opening switch. After 4 years the rubber cover turned to tar. I bought a new switch assembly and thought I’d change it myself.
These instruction at the PriusChat forum help enormously! The disassembly is not difficult if you know what to disassemble!
Double check for yourself, but the part number 84840-47020 is for the 2007 Prius without Smart Entry (the little rubber buttons to lock the door) and 84905-47010 with smart entry. They sold me the wrong switch, the one without smart entry. However, I understand the right one is about $40 more and I should be able to use part of the old assembly with the new assembly to make one that works and not pay the extra bucks.
I will do this!
I did get it installed and working.
I too have a 2007 prius that has a rear hatch switch on which the rubber cover has turned into a gooey tar like mess. I live in Georgia.
I have read that the only solution is to replace the switch. I stopped by my local dealer today and was told the same thing, With a song and dance about soap from washing being left there and deteroriating the cover, My switch works okay but my hands get black and gooey and I have ruined some clothing.
my attempt at a solution is this:
I cust a strip from an old rubber type chemical resistant glove that I had. stuckt it in place and the gooey mess held it there. I cut the strip so the edges folded over the edges of the old cover and replaced the screws. I spent much more time cleaning the mess from my hands and tool than actually doing the repair.
So far so good
best of luck
Randy
I’m gonna try your method on the hatch switch… you are brilliant Randy!
That story about soap is total BS. I have never washed my Prius, not one time, nor put any kind of soap, chemical, wax or anything else on it. The rubber is defective.
I think this is a bigger problem than just a few people are having. this has happened to me too. whenever I open the hatch, my fingers stick to a gooey black tar… It for sure is caused by the pink foamy soap from the do-it-yourself car wash. it is the only place that I ever washed the car, and it happened on the second year that I owned the car. the dealer (carmax) charges $62 for the assembly and $285 for the labor bringing the total to $347.00 parts and labor plus tax… I will try Randy’s 5 dollar quick fix first.
It’s not the car wash. My Prius has never been washed. NEVER!
If you have the smart key system don’t bother ordering part 84905-47010, which is about $74.00 online. Order instead the non-smart key switch (part No. 84840-47010), which costs about $30.00 less. The main reason is that as mentioned by several other posts, to take out the 3 “Phillips” screws that hold the smart key switch in the assembly is almost impossible (I stripped all three of mine). On my way to Home Depot to buy a set of screw extraction bits, I realized that it would be much simpler to leave the old smart key switch in (which works well), cut the two wires (red and black) that go from that switch to the hatch opening switch, remove the old hatch opening switch (that had the melted rubber), install the new one and simply connect the wires together and cover them well with electrical tape. This worked perfectly. I wish I thought of this and had ordered the less expensive part.
Esteban, I used the less-expensive part too. It works fine.
I had same problem with my 2007 prius. The rear hatch has finally broken after being loose. I agree also that this is a common problem.
My wife also has a 2007 prius with the same gooey mess. Kind of obvious that it was a manufacturing problem and not a random occurance. Thanks for the part numbers and suggested solutions.