I drove my car about a half mile and noticed nothing out of the ordinary, drove it back to my apartment and as I was pulling up to my gate I could no longer accelerate. I stopped and put the car in park, tried to go back into drive with no luck. I put the car back into park and there was a loud rattling side coming from under the hood on the left side while sitting in the drivers seat. I have a 2006 Ford Taurus. Any information would be helpful. The only thing I have tried so far was refilling my transmission fluid to no avail. I only paid $1000 for the car and I want to know whether it is worth trying to repair or even worth getting a look at. Help needed please!!
Check if a CV-joint/axle failed.
Because if one did, and the axle is no longer connected to the hub, the car isn’t going to move when you step on the gas.
Tester
I can throw the car in neutral, and push it, but when I push down on the gas pedal nothing happens. When I threw the car in neutral and pushed it I had my sister drive. She could steer just fine as well.
If it is the CV joint, might be worth fixing. If transmission is shot, probably not, depends on the condition of the rest of your Taurus.
You need to have the problem diagnosed by a reputable mechanic. Expect to pay for the diagnosis, the cost might be waved by the shop if they do the repair.
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Only problem is the car does not move. Besides paying for the diagnoses OP now has to pay for towing as well.
I know of someone who called some “shop” that comes out to a home to fix cars. He had a water pump replaced and apparently was satisfied with the work and the price. Only problem was the appointment had to re-scheduled several times due to rain and no garage. Perhaps that is an option to get at least a diagnosis.
Was the transmission fluid low then? How much did you need to add? Usually when an automatic transmission starts to slip (from wear or being low of fluid) there’s no loud rattling noise. But if the transmission is driven some time while low of fluid internal damage could occur and produce rattling noises. More likely the rattling noise is coming from one of these
- loose exhaust component
- damaged torque converter or flex plate
- faulty axle/cv joint
Most any good shop should be able to put it on their lift and figure out what’s causing this without much effort. Suggest to go with that approach. You could get lucky and find the problem is minor.