I have a 2013 Corolla LE with the 1.8L 2ZR-FE engine and automatic transmission. Has 108k miles and has been trouble-free since we bought it about five years ago for my daughter.

The other day, while stopped at a red light, she called to tell me the car wouldn't move when she hit the gas - the engine revved up, but the car wouldn't move. She had to hit the gas several times and it finally went, but then started making a "dragging" noise in first gear. When she parked it, the gearshift wouldn't go into park.

I went to her place and checked it out. I exercised the emergency brake several times and somehow that loosened the gearshift to go into park. I then test-drove it, and it drove perfectly fine - except for the "dragging" sound only in first gear.

I started thinking outside the box and suspected a brake shoe had broken and jammed the parking brake, but no dice. I did find the right front dust shield rubbing against the rotor, but bending that away didn't solve the problem. I changed all the brakes front and rear. I even did a spill-and-fill (appx 3 quarts) of the transmission fluid, but the sound remains.

My daughter has driven it the last two days and it has driven just fine, shifting is 100% normal, no slippage or loss of power, just the dragging noise. No codes of any kind. I've run out of ideas. There is no noise when I powerbrake it, or in any other gear.

Any thoughts? Those transmissions are pretty bulletproof and my daughter uses it for her daily driver, so she doesn't push it hard at all, so I can't imagine what unusual thing is going on to cause the noise, which is obviously abnormal and I now fear may be causing damage. I wouldn't even know what to tell the transmission shop if I took it to one, other than "it makes a noise but runs fine."

Thanks for any suggestions.