Bang! And the drive is gone!

[Longy_NE]

Hola! Was wondering what people thought - was driving home from work and heard a bang and rattle in the drivers side wheelarch - as though something had fallen off and hit it. Car carried on fine so I thought "get it home and have a look there". Anyhoo got close to home and had to come to a complete stop for the first time since the bang due to a red light. When I broke there was a nasty grinding sound, like the brake pads had fallen out and the caliper metal was grinding into the disk. Anyhoo I stopped and went to set off again...no drive. Through booting it I just about managed to get it moving and onto a side street. When I turned it was like the front wheels had no grip, I mean none like driving on ice. Engine off and on, no worning light good idle and it drives fine in reverse, just no front gears. So...gearbox? Driveshafts? Which incidentally look fine but I'm no mechanic. I'm leaning towards gearbox because it engages drive and moves/steers fine in reverse. Thanks and sorry for the essay!! Longy

[raunchz]

Have a look at the driveshafts, brakes etc. If they appear fine then i'd say potentially gearbox.

The bit about driving on ice, could be cv grease on your tyres, maybe hinting that a cv joint has gone.

If your unsure take it to a garage - aa/rac can get you there if you're a member

[Sparco_Tom]

shattered diff? could of snapped a drive shaft aswell causing oil leak onto your tyres

[Devoner]

defo drive shaft man, the same thing happened to me.... exactly tyhe same story driving along bang had to stop could not go again

[Longy_NE]

Interesting outcome to this one, got round to looking at it with mraaman today, turns out the bang etc I heard was the top bolt flying outta my drivers side caliper, which under braking fell forward into my wheel, basically counteracting any forward momentum...bizarre eh? Thanks for all the feedback/suggestions though, will hit the thanks button when I get to a computer (am on phone ATM)

[DJDannyB]

ooo unlucky mate!