rear hatch lock mechanism fix

[Danger Mouse]

like many others have experienced I had issues with my rear hatch not unlocking with the key sometimes. after making and installing an interior hatch release it also didnt want to unlock with the power unlock most of the time. after quita a bit of fiddling around I found the metal and plastic mechanism on the drivers side where the solenoid and lock bar connect wasnt returning properly and blocked the mechanism from turning to the unlock position. the spring that does this is pretty weak and I temporarily added a rubber band to assist it in returning to see if that helped. since it stopped the unlock problem I replaced the spring with a stronger one and have had no unlocking issues for days. I suspect this is the cause of many rear hatch opening problems since if it is slightly off the hatch will not unlock manually or electronically. trying to attach pics close up and larger view. hope it helps someone.

 

[HiLife]

Thanks for posting that.
I had a kinda similar problem. That plastic fitting on the cable, that goes into the metal bracket broke. Leave my cable flopping around unable to unlock or lock with the key. Cable ties fixed it temperately.
And a replacement cable fixed it permanently so far.

 

[FD7683]

My latch isn't locking all doors due to the mechanism being broken. Thanks for the post.

 

[Pyral]

I had issues with my rear hatch too. Turns out one of the bolts that was critical for the function of the tailgate release had fallen out and the bracket became partially loose. Had a hell of a time trying to get a bolt and a washer to thread in with the rear window apparatus in the way.

 

[poleclimber63]

Related issue

I couldn't open my rear hatch, but I discovered the handle was sticking so I have to replace it. Do I need to remove the garnish to remove the handle? All the info I've read says the garnish is a PITA to remove due to easily broken clips, delicate plate lenses etc. If anyone has replaced the handle recently, any advice would be appreciated! Thx

 

[Danger Mouse]

I swapped the hatch on mine when I bought it a year ago since it was pretty mashed. pulled all the wiring and fed it into the new one since it used a different control computer. I remember the screw holes were broken and I replaced/repaired them with epoxy putty. if I remember right the handle was attached to the plastic cowel on the outside. had to go around all of the window mechanism stuff to disconnect and remove it. it was a pain and took a while but fairly straight forward. once the plastic cowel is removed you can take the handle latch off.
before you remove everything you might try lubricating it from the outside. spray whatever lubricant you use up into the hinge on each side of the latch and see if it helps
if you do open it up check the plastic clips that connect the ends of the rods, others have posted about theirs breaking or coming unclipped
good luck

 

[RodrickHeffley]

not sure if this is the best place for this but I don't want to make a whole post just for it.

My rear hatch I thought was working fine until today as I was leaving a friend's house and noticed my interior dome light was on. Turns out that the rear hatch door sensor thought it was open (which it was) but I noticed that the sensor doesn't work 100% of the time, which leads me to the other problem

The 4runner was locked but the rear hatch didn't lock is my guess
When I got home I tried again and locked it and again it didn't lock
but I unlocked the 4runner, then opened it then closed it again (harder) and it locked that time

Any ideas on what the problem could be? maybe a bad latch?
If it helps I also noticed that the rear dome light sometimes is dim or doesn't work but I thought that was a bad housing or switch
the window rolls down with both the key and the button inside the truck, defrost and rear wiper also work

reading some other posts leads me to believe it's not being shut correctly due to bad struts, which could be true as mine are pretty bad (and I plan to replace them after this winter but I want to be sure)

 

[FD7683]

Snipping the red wire from the latch wiring loom will fix the issue although the "door ajar" light for the hatch will not work anymore. It will still lock all the doors with the fob regardless but you absolutely need to make sure the trunk is closed by looking at it from outside. Proper fix is to replace entire latch from Toyota.

 

[brillo_76]

not sure if this is the best place for this but I don't want to make a whole post just for it.

My rear hatch I thought was working fine until today as I was leaving a friend's house and noticed my interior dome light was on. Turns out that the rear hatch door sensor thought it was open (which it was) but I noticed that the sensor doesn't work 100% of the time, which leads me to the other problem

The 4runner was locked but the rear hatch didn't lock is my guess
When I got home I tried again and locked it and again it didn't lock
but I unlocked the 4runner, then opened it then closed it again (harder) and it locked that time

Any ideas on what the problem could be? maybe a bad latch?
If it helps I also noticed that the rear dome light sometimes is dim or doesn't work but I thought that was a bad housing or switch
the window rolls down with both the key and the button inside the truck, defrost and rear wiper also work

reading some other posts leads me to believe it's not being shut correctly due to bad struts, which could be true as mine are pretty bad (and I plan to replace them after this winter but I want to be sure)

Oh boy.. I know my one needs to be close harder then I think is normal.
I have my rear dome turn off.

I like the light ajar because nothing worst then you give it the beans and your stuff in your trunk shifts hits the rear door and if it not latched your trunk area starts emptying itself onto the road.... That would be a very bad thing...

 

[RodrickHeffley]

Oh boy.. I know my one needs to be close harder then I think is normal.
I have my rear dome turn off.

I like the light ajar because nothing worst then you give it the beans and your stuff in your trunk shifts hits the rear door and if it not latched your trunk area starts emptying itself onto the road.... That would be a very bad thing...

me too, that light is helpful because otherwise I don't know when it's closed and it otherwise isn't, so I don't want to disable it. I think the latch is bad so tomorrow I'm going to the local junkyard that's got five third gens, I'll probably grab a latch or two (or three) in case one is bad. I hope that fixes my problem

 

[pluton]

I disabled my instrument panel door ajar light because I wanted to be able to leave the hatch open for hours or days while camping without draining the battery. Therefore, I use the dome lights to tell whether any door is ajar, including the hatch. Later, the rubber liner came off of the hatch latching mechanism (the part that strikes and holds onto the striker plate). After the rubber "glove" detached, it became difficult to fully shut the hatch. It felt different, and the dome light would stay on. Sometimes I have to shut the hatch 3 or 4 times before it fully closes(going by the dome light).
I've ordered the replacement latch (≈$91 from Amayama, ≈$130 local online). I am both looking forward/not looking forward to opening up the rear hatch and attempting to replace the latch.

 

[RodrickHeffley]

I disabled my instrument panel door ajar light because I wanted to be able to leave the hatch open for hours or days while camping without draining the battery. Therefore, I use the dome lights to tell whether any door is ajar, including the hatch. Later, the rubber liner came off of the hatch latching mechanism (the part that strikes and holds onto the striker plate). After the rubber "glove" detached, it became difficult to fully shut the hatch. It felt different, and the dome light would stay on. Sometimes I have to shut the hatch 3 or 4 times before it fully closes(going by the dome light).
I've ordered the replacement latch (≈$91 from Amayama, ≈$130 local online). I am both looking forward/not looking forward to opening up the rear hatch and attempting to replace the latch.

You don't actually have to disassemble the rear hatch itself to replace the latch (or at least the one on the bottom of the hatch) if you really don't want to

it's held on with three 10mm bolts and then you theoretically could cut the connector off and splice on the new one, but i'm going to just put the new connector in with no splicing

the only problem i've been aware of is getting the cable onto the latch, I haven't tried to put it on yet but it would appear I have to bend up the tabs holding it on at the latch in order to put the new one in, then bend it back down


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