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Funny story.
I walked around the back of my box the other day, with the lights on, and noticed one of my license plate illumination bulbs was burnt out. I thought to myself... Wow, that is the first time I've had to change one of those since I bought it new 19 years ago....I hope the hardware comes apart. Sure enough, the screws that hold the light bulb housing had rusted and swelled up in the plastic, and they weren't going anywhere. So I realized I have to remove the hatch handle garnish to see how to get this screw out. But on the 3rd bolt, that attaches the garnish to the hatch, in the middle, the nut had rusted to it, so as soon as I twisted it with a socket, it broke the plastic on the handle garnish.....Now I guess that is getting replaced again. Ebay for $44 (...last time dealer did it for me at no cost, back in 2013 maybe)
I decided since this was all apart..... the switch for the latch release was about to fall apart. The metal plate had rusted away to nothing (see photo) I called my local dealer to get a quote it was $133 just for this part. (a switch, a little wire, and the plastic connector). In other words, less than half that sub-harness. I found one online from a Toyota dealer in Larado TX for $71, so that is on its way. I'm going to cut the wires and just solder the new part into existing harness. I don't want to try and thread the connector through that rubber toilet plunger thing. Looks super tight.
I ended up cutting that original problem screw with a Dremel and using a hammer and punch to knock the last pice of metal out the clear plastic bulb housing.
I also added foil tape to the top of that housing because, light crept out of my last one, between the garnish top, and the hatch itself. Always bugged me. Now all the light should shoot down.
I realized after I got my replacement hatch release switch, (part # 84840-52010) it did not come with the metal plate I wanted. That was a different part (76827-52010) The switch I got for $77 shipped. The metal plate was only $12.15 from my local dealer. I decided to use both, since they were OE, even though my original switch was still functional. I soldered the new switch into the existing harness, and reinstalled that, along with new LED bulbs, and it's good to go.
Last edited by typhoonorchid; Nov 28, 2023 at 01:00 PM.
hatch handle replace 2nd time.
