lakellie

Please help this poor, clueless college student figure out what's wrong without breaking the bank...

My car has been making noises I can only describe as metal grinding upon metal (like someone put chunks of aluminum in a blender and turned it on full speed) as I accelerate through the third gear and then the noise stops. I am led to believe it is related to the transmission because it seems to be loudest when it's shifting gears and also makes the noises as it shifts downward when I don't even have my foot on the pedal.

Dunno if this is worth noting but the accelerator is also extremely hard to push and driving the car gives my right leg a serious workout.

Any insight would be deeply appreciated!