Bellhousing shatters?

Prerunner with 2.7, auto and 150k.

The other day the bellhousing basically shattered while driving on the highway. The weight of the transmission then created a "pinch" between the engine and transmission. Bolts that use to hold the bellhousing to the tranny then dug into the torque converter. The flywheel seem to have taken some damage too. Its a very weird thing.

Also, about an hour before this happened; the exhaust pipe broke right in front of the cat. converter.

The truck has had an easy life, a few dirt roads is the worst that has happened to it. It has not been very reliable for me which is disappointing considering their reputation.

I'm confident that I didn't hit anything; the sway bar and steering rack is even right under the bellhousing.


If you have any advice on what may have caused this or if this happened to you. Give me a shout. mckay@gatech.edu or PM or post.


It may be related so I will say: a U-joint on the driveshaft went bad, at a different time the exhaust pipe broke right under the collector tube(or whatever you call it)

 

lemon?

 

The first thing I thought was hitting something would explain all of this. But when you look at it. The steering rack and sway are right under the bellhousing though. It really doesn't look like it would be possible for the bellhousing to take a shot from anything that serious.

 

Any suspension modifications? ... Has this PreRunner ever been wrecked? ...

The combination of exhaust breakage plus bellhousing shattering (and, for that matter, the U-joint failure) makes me suspicious that (a) something's seriously misaligned in your drivetrain or (b) the drivetrain is seriously misaligned with respect to the frame and / or wheels.

Not counting major wrecks and exploding clutch units, I don't think I've ever heard of a bellhousing shattering like that on a Tacoma.

There's always the chance there was a casting flaw in the bellhousing or an ancient crack finally grew to devastating size ...

... but these 3 failures don't seem like a random collection to me ...

 

There have no suspension mods or any other mods.

My brother one time had to scraped a tree when parking the car but that was just alittle paint and a new blinker.


Thanks for replying to these post and helping!

 

I guess a misaligned drivetrain makes the most sense. Needless to say, we are disappointed in the truck

 

Wierd, crossmember or frame cracked? motor mounts OK? Bolts came loose and fell out?

 

Wondering if you ever determined the cause. My son has an 03 prerunner with the 2.7 auto and same thing happened to him this past Friday on the interstate. He’s pics look almost identical.

 

Maybe someone else can chime in but this thread/last post is over 14 years old and the OP has been on TW since Feb 8, 2009.

 

Would something like this happen to an MT?

I've been having some obscure vibes out on the trails that not a nobody can diagnose what's going wonky!

 

Fasteners not torqued to spec

 

Ha ha I caught this one!! Op never returned !

From 2009 I would really love to know what happened..

From the picture it looks like something behind the transmission failed putting all the weight on the bell housing .

A few good bumps all she wrote.

 

I knew it was a long shot but had to ask.

 

Wanna make a new thread and post some pics? Really curious if maybe the transmission mount failed or something.

 

new thread !!

Pictures lets get into this!!

 

Sounds like a plan!!

 

New thread is up.