My car is a 2000 Lincoln Continental, 4.6V8, about 85K miles.
While driving to work recently, there was a "thunk" in the front of the car, the "Traction Control failure" message came on, and the rpm indicator shot up to max then fell to zero and remained there. I was able to continue to my office where I parked. When I came to drive home, the car won't start, and I get a "check traction control" message. The battery is fine (12.5+ V), and when I turn the ignition switch to start there is simply nothing - no engagement of the starter motor at all. Is my starting problem related to the traction control issue? If it is, or may be, how can I troubleshoot this, short of having the car towed to my my mechanic?