Not the usual rear hatch problem

When was the last time you replaced the hatch struts?

 

This would be a good thing to look into... It's also possible someone hit your rear bumper hard enough that it bent in that rear panel the latch bolts to and its no longer properly aligned and you need to remove the latch and take a big hammer to the mount so it's bent back further and lines up better.

PS: Can you post a photo of your replacement switch as well as where you can buy them?

 

Thanks for the link... So you're saying it clears the latch and gets an inch high and gets stuck? What happens when you force the issue?

Once it's clear of the latch it's just the struts and hinges and if you've never washed your car you could have lots of debris around those hinges causing this. Or maybe the metal where hatch connects to the roof... has been damaged?

 

Well if it's not entirely clearing the latch then it's not opening an inch first, but less than that. Clearly your problem is the latch. And because you already replaced that once, you'll have no problem pulling it out and cleaning and inspecting and greasing. I bet that's the only problem. Or perhaps your replacement latch is still under warranty?

 

It doesn't have a separate, finger-operated catch the way the hood has, no, but it does have a two-stage latch. If you have the hatch open and use your pinky to push down the latch, you'll notice it has two clicks.

Sometimes I use too brief a touch on the open button for mine, and get it unlatched just up to the next click. Then I pull on the hatch, it goes bonk, and I have to look a little sheepish and push the button again.

If something is slowing down / gumming up the motion of the latch or your lifting of the hatch, that could happen more often.

 

As someone who's Prius is loaded with gardening tools full time and I'm constantly moving trees and plants and debris around, this latch wears out and fails real quick if you aren't constantly cleaning it out. I pulled my latch and cleaned and lubed it so many times that I finally had to replace it because it was worn to broken in multiple ways.

 

Try putting a little bit of downward pressure on the hatch with one hand while pressing and holding the latch button with the other. Works for me. Other times it's just the weather stripping stuck to the paint.

 

Where's Wallace?

 

+1 to ChapmanF

The tailgate latch does have "2 stages". If you close the T/G too gently the latch won't fully seat ( to the 2nd stage) and won't turn off the interior light or dash indicator ( which = dead 12V battery).

So it's possible for the latch to release only "part-way". My first thought would be to check if striker loop on the T/G is rubbing on the side of the receiver slot on the latch. Maybe the latch mounting needs adjustment or the striker is slightly bent?

I use a screwdriver to manually close the latch with the T/G open. Then trigger the opening switch while lifting on the screwdriver to test how well the latch releases. (Maybe the voltage to the latch release solenoid is low and doesn't work correctly?)

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I'll second that one, with a larger sized phillips screwdriver, push the round shaft through the latching mechanism to get the two stages of latching, then press and hold the button while trying to pull the screwdriver back out to open the latch. If that works ok, check that the aligning pads aren't pushing the tailgate to one side as it locates in the latch and that is what is causing it to jam.
Mine has the opposite problem, sometimes the latch will close into the first step while the tailgate is up, the door section then pushes the the latch to fully locked position and no tailgate latching .... I have to continually flick the hatch opening bit while pulling the screwdriver back through the latch to get it back in the open position.

T1 Terry