Touch switch won't open liftback

Can you hear the mechanism when you press?

 

Mine is a little touchy about where I put my fingers to get it to unlock. If already unlocked, it opens easily. Not sure if yours a lock issue or a latch issue.

 

Someone here (recent thread) opened up their switch and fixed it, saving a costly replacement. If it turns out to be internal problem in the switch, it would be worth searching for this. I forget what the issue was, mostly just accumulated crud I think?

 

To answer your question about opening the hatch from the inside of the car, look in your owner's manual for the instructions. If you do not have a manual, you should register your car on the official Toyota Motor Company vehicle's owner website and then download the manual.

Replacing the switch is a little fussy, mostly because some of the screws tend to strip out. The part costs $60-$90 USD depending where you buy it.

Lots of threads on this forum talk about it and tell you how to do it. Few Youtube videos, also. IIRC, Toyota wanted about $260 to replace it for me last spring (parts and labor). I did it myself.

 

How to Replace the Hatch Opening Switch | PriusChat

 

You can't assume it is the switch. I had the lock mechanism itself fail. The way to test is to remove the grey plastic cover over the latch mechanism and then locate the plug where it connects (to the left as you look in the hatch from the back). Use a voltmeter to determine whether there is a voltage as you press the latch switch. See my photo to see to which 2 pins to test. If you get 12 V momentarily when you press the switch (and hold the switch closed; note: there is only voltage for about 500 ms), it is the latch mechanism, not the switch. If you get no voltage it is the switch. I guess there must be a relay to provide the 500 ms voltage, so that could be a point of failure too. But I didn't need to check that far as it was the mechanism.

Now the bad news (for me YMMV), they do not keep this part in stock in my country (I guess it hardly ever fails), and they would have to special order it for something like NZ$300+ from Japan. I put out the word out on the salvage network that I was looking for one and was able to get a salvaged part for NZ$45, so was happy with that. The part when I received it looked "used", compared to mine which looked "pristine". The big difference between the two, mine didn't work. Installed the salvaged part and has been working without issue for the last 2+ years.

I don't know why the original failed, I never looked into it. I have attached some photos so you can visualise details a bit better (I hope).

The entire cover (not just the center piece) that needs to be removed; just grab it firmly near the ends and lift straight up:


Another view with the cover higher up:


The latch and plug (to the right in this picture) taken from the back seat towards the rear of the car:


The pins on the plug to test:



Hope that helps.

 

You are looking for a short, shiny metal lever located at the hatch lock assembly. When you move that lever, that motion will unlatch the hatch lock. I suggest you try to find that lever before you have another problem with the hatch lock.

If you feel that the hatch opening switch is close to failing, then it should be replaced.

 

This video may help in terms of finding the inside lever to open the hatch. It is not the greatest video, but he does eventually show you the actual silver lever that Patrick talks about around the 4 minute and 45 second mark.

BTW, if you are registered on the Toyota owners site, be sure to check that you have completed all the recalls on the car. If you bought it used, you can also check any repair records (usually only see repairs done by a Toyota dealer).