2007 Rx350 Transmission Exploded

[rnews]

My Lexus 2007 RX350 transmission exploded! It had just 58,058 miles on it and all of a sudden the transmission case blew apart. There were transmission parts and trans fluid all over the street. I had to spend $4000 to have a rebuilt transmission installed. This included a core charge for the case. The mechanics at the auto shop had never seen this happen before - the transmission exploding! They asked if it was suddenly put in reverse while driving, like that may be the reason. Now my son was driving it at the time but he insisted that didn't happen. He stated he heard a loud bang and then the vehicle then came to a stop. I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of this happening or if anyone could explain how this could happen. Thanks for your comments.

[maseace]

Sounds suspect - was he racing or something?

[rnews]

Racing? No, he was on a busy street going under 40mph. I don't know if this is related but a month or two prior to the trans problem I noticed the engine noise was more pronounced in the cabin, especially when accelerating. Now with the new transmission the noise is gone and the cabin is quiet again.

[lenore]

Do you know if you had a transmission leak prior to the failure.? I wonder if it died after fluid loss.

[rnews]

No, the transmission was not leaking. The two things people have suggested are that the trans fluid leaked out or it was suddenly put in reverse. I don't have any reason to believe either of these things happened.

[lenore]

Totally a mystery, the noise you heard is interesting as a moderator on Club Lexus had a torque converter failure on a RX300 that made noise before the failure. If that unit came loose that would explain a lost of pump pressure and the eventful explosion of transmission.

[rnews]

That's a possible explanation I hadn't though of. Thank you.