Pontiac Repair: Pontiac wont go into gear, pontiac owners, linkage problem

Question
QUESTION: Our '00 Pontiac Sunfire, 4-speed automatic, will not go into gear anymore.  What happened:  I turned a sharp corner over some snow and heard a "crack" sound.  I drove about 50' further, stopped, and when I re-started the car it just made a loud grinding noise when I tried to put it into reverse and drive.  The low traction light also comes on.  Any idea about what happened?  Is it possible that the engine and transaxle got disengaged from each other or some kind of linkage problem?  What do I check from here?

ANSWER: Hi Jon:

Good question... I'm not a transmission expert but to answer your question no it's not possible for it to become disconnected. If it will not go into any gear or reverse then something major happened in that transmission. There is nothing you can do but to take it to a shop and have it taken out and see what broke. If you have nothing at all then it could be a bad pump in the transmission or a torque converter or the final drive unit in the transmission broke.If it broke while making a sharp turn My money would be on that "final drive" Especially if when you try to put it into gear and it makes a grinding noise.  Any of these are possibilities but without seeing it It's hard to say. Bottom line is it's not a cheap fix. transmission repairs can get quite costly in a hurry I'm sorry to say. Good luck and happy new year :}


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Todd,

Thanks for the prompt response.  After your answer, I did a quick search for similar problems and read a comment somewhere that in addition to being a "final drive" problem, it could also be a failed inner or outer joint in the axle system.  Our Pontiac has always had an inner joint problem in that it snaps whenever we turn corners.  I've heard several Pontiac owners complain about the same problem and apparently it's just poor engineering.  Could this also be a reason why the car won't go into gear?

Answer
A Cv joint could have the same affect as a bad final drive with both there would be a lot of noise grinding snapping etc. I personally have not seen a cv go bad on on of these cars that bad that they wouldn't move. If the cv joint did go bad along with the noise you would feel it in the steering wheel because of the flopping of the joint you would feel it through the whole car.