96 LSi tranny problem...help!

96 LSi 1.6L automatic
While pulling out of parking lot this morning there was a big bang like I hit something, then an awful grinding noise from under the car. It will not pull in forward or reverse and it rolls freely even when in Park! I checked CV joints, unfortunately they are fine.
What could this be? Any help would be great! No problems beforehand, no slippage or noises or anything, and fluid level is fine.

I hate to sound obvious, but something snapped. The grinding noise was most likely the snapped/sheared parts still spinning against each other.

Have you had any transmission work done lately... like a new torque converter?

cheers,

Since it rolls even in park it sounds like either the countershaft or the differential has broken. I would suggest dropping the oil pan and looking for metal debris. If you do find it unfortunately it would mean a full teardown and rebuild since the metal debris could have also torn up seals and other parts of the trasmission.

I spoke with two local transmission gurus (one is retired) who agreed with your diagnoistic...it is indeed a broken differential. Both recommended a new transmission instead of trying to rebuild that one. I can put in a tranny, but not sure where to get a reliable new or rebuilt one. Any suggestions? I noticed doctorbill had a link to a place in oregon but i'd like to find someone a little closer to the georgia/alabama/tennesee intersection...
Transmissions aren't cheap but I'd hate to junk the car when thats the ONLY thing wrong with it.
bam

Yes, probably it would be wiser to put in a new transmission rather than trying to rebuild the old one. How many miles does it have. It is exterme for it to break like that unless it just happened to be weaker than it should have been at manufacture or the car had been driven aggressively. The problem with rebuilding it as I said in my previous post is that everything must be disassembled and checked for damage and you may find you have to replace other things which may have suffered secondary damage. That would be time consuming and unless you want to do this yourself you will be looking at quite a large cost for a tranny place to do it.

Best bet would be to buy a rebuilt transmission - should be cheaper than a new one and it should come with some form of warranty. However, you may have to have it shipped from out of state in any event. You can try posting on the Temswift website and see if people there can recommend places to get them. Unfortunately I have not had to look for one so not really sure where to find them although I believe you can find them on ebay from Japan just like the engines. I recall a price of around $400 - $800 for them.

Use this link to find a tranny closer to your area:

http://car-part.com/


Good luck!