Hi, new here, I am trying to fix my daughter's 4runner. When the handle is pressed I hear noise, then after a few seconds , sounds like a click, door won't open. I got the inside panel off, Is the white plastic covering the latch? Can I remove it without parts shooting off ? I did read it might be the ECU. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Without a meter there to check for voltages at the latch' there's not much anyone can definitively say one way or another. Since you have the back panel off, there should be a manual string release attached to it. I'd pull it, remove the latch, connect it back to the computer and see if I could make it work with a screwdriver. I doubt it's a backdoor ecu.

 

I recently had the same problem (this summer). The latch gets rusty and won't work well.

If you have the inside cover off, you can pull that white plastic back (when it is warm so the sealant is soft (warning, it's tar-like).

In the middle of the hatch is a large opening where you can hear the mechanics moving.

There is a very simple lever to push down (sort of like flushing a toilet IIRC) and the latch will pop.

I recommend using a screwdriver (not to pry!), because you don't want to catch a finger in the motor if you are in the wrong place.

It was tricky to find the first time, then makes perfect sense.

The latch seems to open it fine, but not the motor. Upon investigation, I lubed the latch and found it had too much resitance (rust, age, etc) to spring open.

Sometimes if you hold in on the hatch, activate the outside handle, then release the handle (still hold in on the hatch), wait for the motor to reset and activate it again, it will open from the outside.

I was searching for a new latch piece when your post came up in Google, so thought I'd share

Hope this helps!

- DD