[joshc]

Car won't move even when in gear.

I can put the transmission in gear . . . verified this by feel as well as looking at it shift under the hood. I definitely feels like it is in gear; however, when I release the clutch there is no power and I can tell there seems to be no "connection" as there's no reduction in speed or increase "effort". Basically the engine revs freely as if it were in neutral. The car doesn't even attempt to move from a standstill no matter what gear I release into.

A little background. I have never had any problems with the transmission or clutch. The transmission has 170xxx miles. It was working just fine on my way home last night (80 mile trip). There are numerous VERY steep hills (6-8% grade) on this trip. Heading down one of these hills with the clutch and 5thgear engaged I made my way down the hill. When I got to the bottom of the hill and went to shift to 6th, nothing happened . . . the engine just spun freely and I had to coast to a stop on the side of the road.

Any clues? Am I looking at a clutch failure? A broken axle?

 

[JudoJohn]

could be a lot of things. clutch failure is a possibility. is it the original clutch? if so, it may have just given out, or the pressure plate no longer works. however, i would look at the axles. One may have popped out of the transaxle, or broken. That's more like what your situation sounds like.