Repair rear latch on Toyota Sequoia

Step 6

I now had the plastic housing off of the solenoid/latch assembly. 

The image below shows the latch assembly after I cleaned off all the hard dried grease/dirt that was jamming it and making it impossible to use the door handle to open the latch. I used a steamer to blast off all the dirt and caked hard grime. This made it possible to cycle the levers by hand, but the latch itself was stuck solid. 

I next looked at the latch assembly which was stuck in the closed position. I sprayed it with WD-40 and then cleaned it with a steam machine several times until the latch assembly was as clean as new. I then was able to move the latch after pressing the open button on the key fob. I then cleaned it again several times in the open position until the water from the steam was coming out clean. I then sprayed it with WD-40 and let it sit over night. Had to eat supper ya know. 

The next day, the latch worked good as new. No grinding noises and a very strong metallic click when the latch is cycled open and closed with the key fob. This is good!