i just had my poor car towed.

yesterday i noticed a quiet but persistent noise everytime i accelerated, like a soft clicking (a friend described it as a leaf caught in bicycle spokes). the frequency of the clicks was affected by how hard the car was accelerating. it was a brand new noise, not a terrible one, and the perfomance of the car seemed no different so i just made a mental note to research it/call the volvo guys in a day or so.

earlier tonight while the car was idling, i noticed that i couldn't hear the noise at all, unless it was in gear (automatic transmission). this worried me because it seemed to link the problem to the transmission, and then i remembered that the day before i had accidentally turned the car off while it was parked but still in drive, it made a bit of a noise(not in any way terrible), i felt like an idiot, and simply put the car in park.

a bit later tonight the noise seemed to get louder, still just a soft rapid clicking, and as i said, "i don't like that, i'm taking it in tomorrow," the noise got 100 times worse (just a lot louder, not more violent), i let off the gas completely and rolled to a stop on the side of the road, put it in park, (the car was definately making the noise while in park this time, and the car was shaking a little)turned off the engine, and called the tow truck. it would still accelerate when i gave it gas, and didn't feel that much different, but i am still very worried that some transmission part has broken lose or become bent or something serious...

does anyone have any ideas?? i have never needed to have the car towed before, so that in and of itself has me worried.

thanks!