Steering clicking noise

When did that clicking occur? Was it only when turning the steering wheel, or only when the vehicle was moving forward or rearward?

If this was when turning the steering wheel, the two common causes are binding upper strut mounts, and a "clock spring" coming apart. To identify a binding upper strut mount, reach over the top of a front tire, and wrap your fingertips over part of the coil spring. Have a helper slowly turn the steering wheel left and right. You should feel that spring rotate smoothly with the wheel. If the upper mount is binding, you'll feel the spring wind up and build tension, then suddenly snap free and turn.

The clock spring is a wound-up ribbon cable in a plastic housing, and it sits right under the steering wheel. By the time you hear that making noises, the cable has usually already broken apart resulting in the horn and / or cruise control not working, or the "Air Bag" warning light is on. Anything electrical on the steering wheel can be dead.

My suspicion is the clicking noise only occurred when the car was moving and the steering was turned to one side. That is the classic symptom of a worn outer CV joint. Given the additional symptom of the noise now when you shift into gear, and the vehicle won't move, it is a pretty good bet the CV joint fell apart. That noise is caused by wear inside the joint, and that can go on for years, but when it is ignored long enough, this failure can be expected. It happened to one of my vehicles after hearing that warning noise for over three years, but in my case, it fell apart in my driveway.

The additional clue is you mentioned the parking stall. That means you had the steering turned sharply one way, and that is what is required for the six highly-polished marbles to fall out of the joint. At that point, the drive shaft turns when you shift into gear, but it isn't connected to the wheel any longer. Both sides have to have some traction, then both tires pull the vehicle. When the shaft is broken on one side, it is free to rotate, so no power goes to the other wheel, and you sit there unable to move. As a further insult, this type of wear usually is accompanied by the rubber accordion boot around the joint is ripped, allowing the grease to escape and dirt and water to get in. Besides that dirt leading to rapid wear, the torn boot will let the marbles fall out onto the ground. If you look around the vehicle, you may find up to six of them. They're roughly an inch in diameter. Even if the boot wasn't torn before, it will be now. You can look underneath to see the shafts, and one of them will be spinning, and possibly flopping around, when you shift into gear with the engine running.

The repair for that is fairly straight-forward. A rebuilt half shaft used to cost around $150.00, but a few years ago I found a brand new one for my '88 Grand Caravan for $64.00.

Here's links to some articles that might help verify my suspicion:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-a-cv-joint-works

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/symptoms-of-a-bad-cv-axle-joint

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/replace-cv-axle

Also be aware with a broken half shaft, "park" will not lock the vehicle like normal. When one shaft is free to rotate, it lets the other one rotate too, so neither wheel will hold the vehicle in place. If you tow it in "park", both shafts will rotate. If you shift to "neutral", the good half-shaft will still rotate freely, but it won't drive the broken one, so that one won't flop around and possibly damage something else that it hits.

Dandy. Sorry about the weather. I can't do anything about that. I always end up ignoring problems in the summer, then have to do my repairs while sitting in a snowbank in my driveway.