Car worked perfectly last time I drove it. Now today a put the clutch in to start and it lurched forward upon start attempt. Started car in Nuetral and can not shift into reverse. Does this sound like a clutch problem or a master fluid problem. I am hoping the latter. Any ideas?

 

sounds more like hydraulic issue.

 

That what I think too. The brake fluid is full thoughl? Is there a different resivoir for the clutch fluid?

 

it's same fluid reservoir. but different systems

 

could be master cylinder or slave cyclinder. Check the fluid colour. If black its a sign of the cylinder seals deteriorating.

When you depress the clutch pedal is there the normal resistence ?

 

It seems to have normal resistance. I would say the fluid looks normal. Maybe a little dark but not black.

 

do you use the car only occasionally ?
Could the clutch plate be stuck to the flywheel ?
Have you tried rocking the car back and forward hard in first gear with the clutch pedal down to see if it frees up ?
If you didn't have normal pedal resistance I'd say check your clutch fork hasn't busted or your slave rod hasn't come out of the cylinder but it can't be that if you have normal pedal return and resistance.
Only other thing I can think of is the thrust bearing has broken up ?

 

jack the car up and look in the clutch inspection hole. have someone press the clutch pedal down and see if you can see the slave pushing or not

 

The slave is working. Next I will try to see if the clutch is not frozen to the flywheel. I just can not imagine a perfectly working clutch going out while sitting in the garage for a few weeks. There was not hint of trouble on last drive.

 

yikes, if slave is working, then it's prob rubber center or something else mechanical inside the clutch housing. there ain't nothing to do but drop trans and do a complete clutch job. (rear main seal while you're in there)

 

Who has the best price on clutch kit?

 

I need to do the timing belt job as well. Would I be better off taking the engine out and doing both the clutch and belt job at the same time? I read here on another thread that taking the engine out is not a real hard job. That would give me access to all the clutch componants as well would'nt it? And it would make the TB and WP job much easier.

 

Taking the engine out would be more work than it's worth IMO. Belts/WP aren't hard to do with the fans removed.

 

Did you try pumping the pedal a few times?

 

I tried to pump a lot of times. The thing that looks real bad is that the slave cylinder seems to be doing what it suppose to be doing. I tried spraying wd 40 through the inspection hole and will let that sit over night and try again. It just really looks like the clutch disk probably seperated or something.