I drive a 97 Corolla, the last couple of days when it has been cold I noticed the clutch didn't release all the way. This morning was especially cold and the clutch would barely move.

I could barely change gears at first, then I eventually got to the point that no matter what I did, I couldn't get it into any gear (except reverse was a little easier). I had to pull off the road and hitch a ride to my exam.

Is my clutch dead?

12/17/2007 9:58:32 AM

how many miles?
doesnt necessarily mean clutch it dead.
fluid might be low if you cant change gears

12/17/2007 10:07:51 AM

~115k miles. (maybe the 2nd clutch? ill have to check my records since I bought the car used)

what type of fluid might be low?

Every gear I pushed as hard as I could and it felt like something was blocking it (most likely the clutch in the way, but I had it pushed to the floor) except reverse was easier

12/17/2007 10:14:42 AM

transmission fluid.

115K miles isnt enough to wear out your second clutch.

unless you ride it like a bicycle

12/17/2007 10:19:57 AM

most likely my first clutch. ill check on the transmission fluid when I get back to my car. thanks

12/17/2007 10:21:42 AM

Check the fluid for the clutch. It uses brake fluid but it's in a seperate master cylidner, should be a smaller one right beside the brake fluid. Sounds like either the fluid is low or a master or slave cylinder is leaking

12/17/2007 10:21:53 AM

oh god, haha, i meant clutch fluid.

not sure why i said tranny fluid.

you could check the both, but clutch fluid is easier.

like ^ said, its located next to the brake resevior, so try to find out what type of brake fluid it takes, dot3 or dot 4, or maybe dot3/4 (both) and you can just make a trip to the car and fill it up.

but depending on how low it is it may been to be bled, which it sounds like it does, and you can even do that on the side of the street. but make sure you take a cup or something to catch the fluid.

[Edited on December 17, 2007 at 10:42 AM. Reason : ]

12/17/2007 10:40:28 AM

yea I was starting to wonder about you

12/17/2007 10:43:01 AM

I had a chance to go back and mess with my car just now. Here are the symptoms I noticed now that I had a little more time to deal with it:

-the gas tank is very low (possibly out altho I usually get ~350miles per tank and it's only on 308) and that might be my entire problem
-when I try to start the car, it actually starts for about half second then goes off. so I don't think it's a starter/spark plug issue. this leads me to believe it may be out of gas
-the stick shift will not budge in any direction. It's completely stuck
-the clutch has no resistance what-so-ever

I got some brake fluid but didn't want to mess with it until I was sure of the problem (I didn't look to see if it was low yet)

am I just out of gas or is there more to the problem?

12/17/2007 3:28:33 PM

Quote :

"the gas tank is very low (possibly out altho I usually get ~350miles per tank and it's only on 308) and that might be my entire problem"

being out of fuel is not going to cause a clutch problem. obviously, it is a problem...but not the one you originally posted about.

Quote :

"the clutch has no resistance what-so-ever"

sounds like what we originally said... if there is no resistance then there's no fluid pressure... so either there's a leak somewhere or not enough fluid and you're pumping air into the system. did you even check the fluid level? get the car running first obviously and check the fluid level while you're there.

on my old car when i was 16 it'd leak a little from the clutch master cylinder, when it got to the point yours is at now I could add more fluid, pump the shit out of it and get where I needed to go.. You're probably going to need to bleed it though

Quote :

"the stick shift will not budge in any direction. It's completely stuck"

that sounds suspect... it's not uncommon for it to be difficult to put into gear while the engine is off and it is especially going to be hard while the engine is running and the clutch is not disengaging

[Edited on December 17, 2007 at 3:43 PM. Reason : more]

12/17/2007 3:32:18 PM

thanks Schpe and Baonest. you were right, the clutch fluid tank was empty. I bled it a few times and filled it up and it changes gears fine now and the clutch has resistance.

it turns out I wasn't out of gas, it was just that the car was stuck in reverse so it did not want to start in reverse and since it was stuck I couldn't move it to neutral, but it's all good now. thanks

12/17/2007 5:47:43 PM

Quote :

"being out of fuel is not going to cause a clutch problem. obviously, it is a problem...but not the one you originally posted about."

Running out of gas up a steep hill kinda feels like a clutch slipping.

But you are right running out of gas obviously has nothing to do with failure to release like you've stated.

12/17/2007 6:25:34 PM