Torque Converter and Transmission Failed at 40,000 miles - 2020 TRD Sport

I was driving on a highway at 70 mph, felt a jolt and noticed a huge white/gray smoke, which turned out to be transmission fluid. After I pulled over at an exit, the truck would start but it would not engage any gear. The car was towed to a Toyota dealership, and they diagnosed that a bolt in a torque converter fell out?? They don't know why it happened. Has this happened to anyone? As a result, I'm getting a new torque converter and transmission for my 2020 Tacoma TRD Sport with 40,000 miles. Luckily it's covered by the warranty. I was told that the engine itself is fine. I'm not sure the flexplate is fine. What do you all think? I do not want to deal with an issue like this after the warranty ends at 60K. I've lost the confidence in the vehicle and I'm thinking about selling this truck after it gets fixed. The pictures were taken last year. Since then it now has a thule roof rack on it for surfboards. The truck is perfect for weekend climbing, snowboard and surfing adventures, but I don't want to get stranded again far from home.

 

Some tech at the factory didn't torque it right, or maybe left some Loctite off. First time I've heard of a bolt falling out of the converter.

 

Welcome to the forum. I’ve never heard of this failure before but there’s a first time for everything. Every car manufacturer offer a warranty for a reason and every dealership has a service department. These things are made up of thousands of parts and they all are subject to the laws of physics. In the end you are the only person that matters so if you don’t trust it now is a good time to sell it. Good luck with your next selection.

 

While I'm sure you lost faith in your truck, I wouldn't lose faith in the Tacoma. These trucks are known to last very long time with countless people to prove it. Even the 3rd Gens.

 

Sucks that it happened but that's statistics for you. Eventually, statistically, everything fails. I am just curious where you will be putting your 'confidence' if you sell? That is a genuine question, not being a smart a$$.

 

Welcome to the forum

Sorry this issue has to be your first post.

As far as losing faith in the vehicle, if this is yet another in a long string of major failures I might understand that point of view.

If instead this is an isolated incident in a vehicle that has otherwise given good service I would say let the warranty repair it and move on.

There are thousands of parts in a vehicle and every manufacturer has the occasional issue.

 

Sounds like bad luck to me - not a common occurrence to be expected or indicate other potential failures. They warranties for a reason.

While another manufacturer, I had an Outback once that had a known torque converter issue. Subaru actually extended warranties to 100k for a certain vin range to cover those problems. I’d bet that if something like this became more common then Toyota would offer something similar.

 

While I agree with the others that an isolated incident can happen to any vehicle, the real or perceived notion that your vehicle is unreliable is not something that is fun to live with. Valid or not, if that's how you feel then you need to do what you need to so you don't feel that way. Remember though, the fact that you trade your truck and buy something else doesn't guarantee your new vehicle won't have an issue too.

 

40k is a long time for a bolt that was loose from the factory to work its way out of the flexplate. So they think the bolt csme loose and jammed between the TC and the bellhousing, piercing the TC and spewing fluid. Weirder things have happened.

Your truck will be fine after they repair it. They will swap the flexplate if any of the threads are boogered.

 

One in a million fluke. You're going to have a new transmission soon. I'd not worry about it.

 

This is a wise statement.

 

Thanks all of you for your thoughts! Here are more details. All the bolts fell out and were found at the bottom of the bell housing. They were damaged severely. Flex plate, crank sensor tone wheel, crank sensor, torque converter all had dents. The spacer between TC and crank shaft was completely sheared off. Transmission Front pump seal bushing was completely stuck on the TC. the front pump oil seal also failed.

As a result, they replaced transmission, transmission assemply, TC, flexplate, crank position sensor and crank sensor tone wheel.

The truck drives fine. Maybe a little better than before without the wobbly TC?

 

Yup, someone skipped the all important torqueing step.....

 

OP, Any off-roading?

 

Can you elaborate on the "wobbly TC"?

 

Talk about bad luck, you have a better chance of getting struck by lightning. Hard to believe one freakin torque converter bolt would cause this failure.

 

All bolts failed. When they opened the housing, the bolts were collected at the bottom.

 

The torque converter (tc) failed when the last bolt fell out. The bolts were getting loose over the last 22 months.

 

The truck drives better than before the failure. It’s much quieter. i’m surprised, but it makes sense.

 

I'd say you're in pretty great shape now! When you hit 200k, your tranny is at 160k and still plenty of life to keep on chugging along. There are no inherent issue with these trannies or motors. Regular 5k oil changes and tranny drain & fills every 45k-60k and you have a seriously long term machine. Time to feel good about it!