1998 3.2 TL, 278,000 miles, son was driving & it appears the differential gave out. Engine runs great, transmission is silent until taken out of park, then it screams of gnashing gears, does not move, put it back in park & it continues to grind violently until the engine is shut off. Being a traditional engine configuration with front wheel drive I know the engine/trans is an odd design. Is the differential assembly replaceable without pulling the transmission?

 

Maybe it's just me, but nothing in your description of the symptoms says "differential" to me. Torque converter maybe, but certainly not differential.

 

I would think a bad torque converter would be noisy all the time? This thing sounds perfect until it is taken out of park. And when it is in park & not running, it rolls freely as if in neutral. I've come across a number bad torque converters in my lifetime but they never effected the park pawl or final drive of a transmission. I'll continue to ponder the option though, I appreciate your reply.

 

I have the exact problem with my Acura. It has grinding and clunking sound when I try to put it in gear. It seems like one of the axle shafts are broken? Did u find out what the issue was?