Rust inside liftgate

[marlinsfan]

I drive a 2014 T4R with 111k miles. I'm original owner. First 6 years the car was in New Jersey, with frequent winter trips to ski country in Vermont. Last year the car has been in florida.

Yesterday I was researching an issue with an intermittently working backup camera, and a thread here pointed me to the connector in the liftgate, behind the plastic trim. So when I removed the plastic trim (which I hadn't done since I replaced the speakers 7 years ago), I find this part all rusted out badly.

Dropbox - Rusted Multiplex Module - Toyota (89222-35030).jpg - Simplify your life

I can only seem to find the part with the multiplex module, and the price is $229. Any ideas of how/where I can find just the metal part?

89222-35030 Genuine Toyota Computer, MULTIPLEX)

Thanks:cheers:

 

[schwein]

if you're unable to find the part, maybe just pull it all off, rust neutralize the rusted area with one of the many products out there and then paint it..? unless when you pull it off it just falls apart, then maybe you'll have to go to a junk yard.

 

[emmantik]

Same thing happened to me. Sanded off the rust and sprayed rust inhibitor.

 

[marlinsfan]

Will have to do this it seems. Thanks.

 

[dweh54]

Out of curiosity, given that the rust is centered where it bolts to the tailgate, have you considered that this is galvanic corrosion?

If you have two dissimilar metals, one will corrode horribly. Even if you paint and reinstall, it will rust again. You need a thin barrier between the two metals.

Wranglers were known for this - the door hinges were a different metal than the body and was a source of early rust. Jeep fixed by including a thin piece of rubber between the two.

 

[marlinsfan]

[MENTION=183417]dweh54[/MENTION]
Thanks for your message. I have no idea what that is but I will put some rubber in between after I dremel and paint next week. I appreciate the idea. Thanks.

 

[marlinsfan]

OK so I finally got around to taking care of this. I dremeled the rust out, but there were a couple of specs I just couldn't get at as my grinding stone wore out and I didn't want to close the gate to go to home depot as I was afraid I would not be able to re-open it. But I think this is good enough for now. I did put some rubber between the 2 metals to prevent the galvanized corrosion mentioned by [MENTION=183417]dweh54[/MENTION]

I created a flickr account and uploaded photos there. I made them public, and copied the link from the Share screen. and put that link in the INSERT IMG button. They are not showing up here.