Mitsubishi Repair: Transmission grinding noises, mitsubishi eclipse, free diagnosis

Question
I have a 97 mitsubishi eclipse rs, nonturbo, 2.0 L 16v motor. Automatic transmission. Everytime I take my car from gear to gear while sitting still, it makes the awfullest grinding noise coming from the front of the car. I sit still and go from park to reverse, neutral to drive, or vice versa and it grinds. also, when a come to a stop... it catches and grinds(at a red light or pulling in my driveway) the noise is very embarassing and it scares me that i think it is my transmission... i'm broke... do you have any suggestions on what this might be?

Answer
Blake,
As the least expensive fix you can try is to check the transmission fluid level, and if it's low, fill it up to the recommended level. If that does not help it, it sounds like your transmission has some internal problems and would need to be rebuilt or replaced with a used one.  This would be costly.  But unfortuntely if it's not a fluid level problem, it can be a costly problem.  Find a transmission shop that offers free diagnosis and estimates to see if they can pinpoint the cause.
Good luck!