Has anyone ordered and replaced their exterior trunk release button?
The one on my wife's car is melting and gooey to the touch.

It still works but leaves a black, sticky residue after touching it.

I ordered a replacement part from e-bay and watched a few videos on its replacement.

I couldn't find any posts after a few attempts at searching.


Exterior trunk release

 

Opps, never realized there was a exterior trunk switch.

 

Haven't had to deal with this before and didn't realize they could turn into that, wow! My guess would be to remove the trunk lid liner and find the bolts and electrical connector for it.

 

some stuff here applicable to es350 as well

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...n-cover-5.html

 

My wife's 2011 ES350 has this problem. I would absolutely not pay $50 to fix it. Rather, I was thinking I could fabricate a new rubber seal for it, likely from an old bicycle inner tube. I'll let the forum know how it goes and try to post some pics.

 

I tackled this job yesterday afternoon after reading this thread. I didn't want to spend $50 on the part, so I removed the switch, cleaned off the gooey black rubber which had "melted" and was jamming it, replaced the rubber with a piece of bicycle inner tube, and put it all back together. It works like new!

A couple of notes for anyone interested in trying this:

The job is moderately difficult for a couple of reasons. The in-trunk manual release is tricky to remove, and it needs to be removed to get the trunk lid's liner off. The base of the T-handle is two-part, and the two pieces need to be snapped apart before one can remove the handle, base and liner. Sorry I don't have a picture of the two-part base.

The only other difficult part is removing all the gooey rubber from the moving parts of the switch. I used a metal pick like the one the dental hygienist uses to scrap plaque from teeth.

It isn't difficult to remove the eight, or so, fasteners that hold the liner to the trunk lid, assuming one has the right tool. I bought mine at Harbor Freight for $9 for a different job, but it came in very handy for this!


It was relatively easy to trim the piece of inner tube to size, and I held it in place with a rubber band. After bolting the switch back in place, it seemed to have a really good seal from the exterior, but in the end, I decided to add the silicone for insurance. Black silicone would have been preferable, but I used the clear because I had it "in stock." BTW...nobody ever sees this switch.

My wife loves the feel of the refurbished switch, and I loved saving money on the part! If it doesn't work out for any reason, I can always buy and install the new switch.

 

Finally replaced the switch a few minutes ago
Looks and feels much better now.

 

I tried to clean the gunk from the outgoing part and it turned into a frustrating exercise pretty quickly!
I was using a degreaser, box cutter and a flathead screwdriver.
I ended up tossing it since I couldn’t get it as clean as I wanted it and the action of the switch was still sticking when pressed.
C’est la vie!

 

Yes, the gooey rubber removal was touch and go! Knowing how messy a job like this can get, I didn't use any chemicals. A simple pick and patience was all it took, and my switch operates like new.