2002 Sunfire: growling noises from transmission/axles

[dsy5]

Brief history: Took possession two days ago - wife's car (we've separated). In December she put the car in a ditch during a snowstorm. The car has been driven less than 100 miles since that happened. She said that she thought she'd damaged something, since it made a strange sound when driving. I figure it would make a good work transportation vehicle.

I jacked it up today to have a look and there was some plastic splash guards on the pass. side which were damaged and rubbing on the tire. Aha, I thought! Removed them and still had the noise.

It appears that the pass. front wheel took the brunt of the impact (broken splash guard and the wheel cover was cracked). I thought maybe the wheel bearing/hub may be bad, but after checking it out (pulling top to bottom, side to side), it didn't seem too bad. I checked at the point where the axle enters the transmission and there is a bit of play when pushing up on the axle. I could also hear a click inside the transmission while doing so, like a gear hitting into another.

It also looks as if the axle is pulled out about a 1/4 inch or so from the transmission seal, as the metal is shiny and not rusted as if it had been this way for a long time. ( I have pics of this but no site to host them).

So, my question is this - could it be the differential bearing (hope not, don't feel like cracking tranny apart)? Should I attempt to try and whack the axle back in that 1/4 inch? Has anyone ever heard of an axle pulling out of the tranny after an accicent?

[gmtech1]

I would lean more toward the hub. Just because there is no play, does'nt mean it can't be noisy. Personaly only have seen the axles come out on accidents when the whole side was ripped off, knuckle and all. Go ahead and see if you can seat the axle all the way in. You will need to grab ahold of the inner joint housing and try and move it, hitting the outer joint won't do it for you when it's attatched in the hub.