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Step 5Get the latch assembly out of the door frame.
Now, I carefully put on some cotton gloves and removed the door handle cable retainer clamps as shown. These clamps hold the cable in place and prevent the cable from rattling around inside the door. During reassembly, it's important to NOT just leave the cable floating around near all the gears and stuff that make the rear window go up and down.
I carefully removed the male cable connectors from the latch assembly. I used a small screw driver to loosen the connectors. There are two brass screws on the plastic outer cover surrounding the lower latch assembly. I removed the screws and very carefully jiggled the whole latch assembly out of the plastic housing. I was careful to not bend anything and DID NOT damage the white wire connector.
I am now holding the bare latch assembly.
I carefully removed the male cable connectors from the latch assembly. I used a small screw driver to loosen the connectors. There are two brass screws on the plastic outer cover surrounding the lower latch assembly. I removed the screws and very carefully jiggled the whole latch assembly out of the plastic housing. I was careful to not bend anything and DID NOT damage the white wire connector.
I am now holding the bare latch assembly.
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but having trouble detaching that male connector on the left off the plastic latch cover, therefore can't get to the next step which is removing that darn plastic cover on the solenoid/latch!
I had to really wrestle that thing off of there. I put a screw driver between the male and female parts of the connector and slowly and carefully jiggled and pryed until the thing came apart. You gotta be careful you don't pull wires out of the connector (fatal error for sure) or crack the plastic (not so fatal, but a PITA to fix) or physically break the contacts. It can be done, I can't exactly explain it, but examine the connector carefully while prying on it and you will see how the thing works. Good luck and remember to not put this thing back together until you are sure everything is fixed. I don't think this connector was designed to be hacked open after it was assembled. Another Toyota gotcha!
My hack and repair still words exactly as shown in this instructable. Be careful, if you screw this up, you may not be able to open the rear hatch in an emergency and that would not be a good thing. Poor engineering and cheapo design if you ask me.
Anything you can't hack successfully, you should take it to your friendly Toyota dealer and prepare to empty your wallet!
My rear latch handle just broke. I hear it snapped while trying to open it during our last ski trip on the mountain. I found the metal handle you mentioned on ebay [just search for sequoia metal liftgate handle]. Do I still need to disassemble the rear inside panel to replace the handle?
I had to roll down the rear windshield then use a pry bar to pry the plastic panel off from the top (after removing the window seal, of course). To my surprise, these plastic panels are attached to the car body with plastic buttons. They can be easily snap on and off. If I had known this, I could have just use the pliers and pull it off while attaching to where the pull down strap attaches.
Don't be fearful of damaging the plastic panel. Its very rugged.
I got this latch thing fixed with only the cost of my time, but I am really disappointed at the quality of things underneath the glitter of my Toyota Sequoia.
It is my opinion that this latch issue is a safety issue first and a quality issue second and the entire fleet should be recalled for replacement of this cheapo and poorly designed mechanism. Wonder how many litigations were settled over this same issue because it was cheaper to settle a serious injury or death claim rather than recall ten million vehicles.
I recently had to visit the dreaded Toyota garage AGAIN (!) because the brake light, which has periodically gone on since this boat was brand new got stuck on permanently. I had this thing in the shop repeatedly since new and they could never figure out what the problem was. Now that it is out of warranty, it cost me $1200 to replace the computer and a stabilization sensor. Note that the Toyota news groups are now full of posts about this same exact problem. Where are the Feds on this when you need them?
Initially I really liked this vehicle, but never another Toyota for me! The Toyota service department really ripped me off. I could have legally gotten this thing declared a lemon because it had been in the shop with the same problem seven times the first year alone. I liked the vehicle and tried to be patient with Toyota while they figured out what was wrong. What a big mistake that was.
I can feel for people who have the out of control braking problem. Toyota service is arrogant and they don't give a flying f%$K about anything once you drive that new vehicle off the lot. Toyota? Never again.
Toyota advertising has falsely led a lot of people to think they don't have issues with their vehicles. They certainly do, deadly issues.
I don't take my sequoia back to the dealer, because the last time I took it in for maintenance, they called me to pick up the car without refilling my transmission oil [2 qts low]. Luckily they called me to bring the car back before I drove more than 5 miles in that condition.
I listened to a 911 call before the crash of one of the Lexus brand new rental vehicle. One of the passenger on the car was the chief of car safety inspection. His wife and son and another friend were killed in the crash.
Really hate to see a good company turned horrible due to greed and arrogance. It took them a long time to build up, and just blew it in a very short time. Pride goes before the fall, like the good book says.