Bear with me, this is my first how to:surprise:
Firstly, the problem. The rear hatch kept opening on its own. Sometimes while driving, sometimes on startup...basically I couldn't see a pattern. Eventually, the button wouldn't work at all, but would still pop by itself sometimes.
Long story short, after some troubleshooting, I determined the switch to be the culprit. Off to the dealership, $92.00 later, home with new switch. I also bought a few extra push retainers of both types just in case
Ok, first the to come off is the trim at the top of the glass. It just pulls straight off. As has been suggested in other posts (thanks sweeneyp), remove the little white clips from the door, and put them on the trim. If you loose them in the door, it sucks.
Next comes the big lower panel. First you need to remove the pull handle strap, then just pull the panel away starting at one side and working your way around. Here's the inside (well most of it).
Inside, there are 5 nuts to remove. The are all 10mm.
There's one more on the other side, just don't have a picture.
Next,unclip all wire harness' that lead to the outside handle area.
Now lower the tailgate, but don't let it latch. I'm not sure if it would without power or not, but didn't want to find out. I just stuck a roll of paper towels in between the door and the jam. Now just pull the chrome highlander trim off the outside. There are two push pins on either end holding it in, so it will need a firm pull. Of course my picture doesn't show the plastic push pins(I'm a terrible photographer!)
Now take that to a work bench. I put down a rag to protect it.remove the screw holding the switch in place.
Mine was very rusty, so I replaced it with a stainless one.
Here is a pic of the new switch before install
Well I think that's about it. Just put everything back on in the reverse order. Remember to put the grommets on the wires in before replacing the outside trim.
I hope this helps someone out one day. Fyi, the dealer told me he had never sold one of these. So it may only just be becoming a problem...or I just got unlucky.
Lastly, thanks to many other posters, for helping me diagnose this issue, especially sweeneyp for the pics of the ripped apart interior, which gave me the confidence to take things apart!!
Firstly, the problem. The rear hatch kept opening on its own. Sometimes while driving, sometimes on startup...basically I couldn't see a pattern. Eventually, the button wouldn't work at all, but would still pop by itself sometimes.
Long story short, after some troubleshooting, I determined the switch to be the culprit. Off to the dealership, $92.00 later, home with new switch. I also bought a few extra push retainers of both types just in case
Ok, first the to come off is the trim at the top of the glass. It just pulls straight off. As has been suggested in other posts (thanks sweeneyp), remove the little white clips from the door, and put them on the trim. If you loose them in the door, it sucks.
Next comes the big lower panel. First you need to remove the pull handle strap, then just pull the panel away starting at one side and working your way around. Here's the inside (well most of it).
Inside, there are 5 nuts to remove. The are all 10mm.
There's one more on the other side, just don't have a picture.
Next,unclip all wire harness' that lead to the outside handle area.
Now lower the tailgate, but don't let it latch. I'm not sure if it would without power or not, but didn't want to find out. I just stuck a roll of paper towels in between the door and the jam. Now just pull the chrome highlander trim off the outside. There are two push pins on either end holding it in, so it will need a firm pull. Of course my picture doesn't show the plastic push pins(I'm a terrible photographer!)
Now take that to a work bench. I put down a rag to protect it.remove the screw holding the switch in place.
Mine was very rusty, so I replaced it with a stainless one.
Here is a pic of the new switch before install
Well I think that's about it. Just put everything back on in the reverse order. Remember to put the grommets on the wires in before replacing the outside trim.
I hope this helps someone out one day. Fyi, the dealer told me he had never sold one of these. So it may only just be becoming a problem...or I just got unlucky.
Lastly, thanks to many other posters, for helping me diagnose this issue, especially sweeneyp for the pics of the ripped apart interior, which gave me the confidence to take things apart!!
200K on a 2009 highlander hybrid (hihy) we live in a rugged area thats more 4runner material but drive 100+ miles a day so the hihy does the job
