Expert: Roland Finston - 10/22/2011

Question
I have a 2001 Chrysler Sebring LXi, 3.0L V6 with only 84,000 miles. I've only owned the car since January, but have had no problems other than a radiator problem that was repaired. I was driving the other night and all of a sudden it wouldn't accelerate. We got it off the road, turned it off and it started up just fine, always has, but it won't move. There have been no warning lights, no sudden jerks, no strange noises, no burning smells, nothing leaking from under the car, it just won't move. We checked the transmission fluid and it is fine. I've put it in every gear, and nothing.

Answer
Hi Charley,
It is possible that the connection between the shift lever and the transmission shift rod on the front side of the transmission is disconnected and you are actually sitting there in neutral. I would have a helper shift the gear while you watch for rotation of the vertical rod on the side of the trans that faces the bumper. It should rotate as the gear shift is changed. If not, the cable is disconnected from the shaft/shift lever.
Other than that:
Either there is a problem inside the transmission or a problem with the torque converter that connects the engine to the transmission (that latter can be diagnosed with a meter that reads whether the input speed sensor of the transmission shows it to be turning or not), or a problem with one of the two driveshafts that connect the transmisssion to the front wheels. Put the car in gear with the engine running and look underneath on both sides at the inner ends of the two drive shafts to see if they are both motionless, or if one is rotating. If both are motionless then I would believe that the drive shafts are OK and so you would want to check the internal transmission fluid pressures using a gauge at the several ports set up for that purpose on the trans housing. If the pressures are abnormal then either the pressure pump in the trans has failed or some dirt has plugged up the valve body. If the pressures are ok then you need to drop the pans, collect the fluid, and see if there is debris in the pans resulting from internal damage.
So if neither output flange is rotating with the engine running and in gear, then you will need to have the vehicle towed to a reliable transmission shop for diagnosis. If one of the output flanges is rotating freely then the cv-joint of that shaft may be broken/disconnected.
So those are the major possibilities. Please let me know what you find to be the case. It doesn't happen very ofter like you have experienced.
Roland