Symptoms of Clutch going out?

[dj_zero]

I've never had a clutch go out on me before, so I don't really know what to look for.
Basically my symptoms are:
Clutch disengages at a higher pedal spot
More force required to shift gear lever
Rattling/grinding noise at around 2K in any gear

Are these the symptoms of a clutch that needs replacing? Or is there something else I should look for, like master/slave cylinders?

 

[AdoreGSX]

the sound at 2k is that like a vibration noise or something? I get the same thing. Kind of feels like the car has less torque?

 

[99gst_racer]

Find a road with a steep hill that you can get going 45-50 mph on. Set you cruise in 5th gear and try to climb the hill. If your RPM's race up as your climbing the hill, then your clutch is slipping. You will also smell it. It stinks horribly when it slips.......

 

[oddrob]

You could try to adjust the clutch and see if it helps with the pedal and the engagement.

 

[dj_zero]

Find a road with a steep hill that you can get going 45-50 mph on. Set you cruise in 5th gear and try to climb the hill. If your RPM's race up as your climbing the hill, then your clutch is slipping. You will also smell it. It stinks horribly when it slips.......

Ok so if it passes that test then it's not the clutch? Because it seemed to hold the rpms just fine. The real big difference was that the throttle response was absolutely nill. I was mashing the throttle and it would barely maintain the speed it was at. Also I'm not smelling anything.

 

[99gst_racer]

Ok so if it passes that test then it's not the clutch? Because it seemed to hold the rpms just fine. The real big difference was that the throttle response was absolutely nill. I was mashing the throttle and it would barely maintain the speed it was at. Also I'm not smelling anything.

Well if your RPM's held and you didnt smell anything burning, then it sounds like your clutch is holding. There are many other things that could cause a clutch to go bad, but it doesnt sound like you have anything to worry about. Just curious, you are using an OEM clutch, right?

 

[dj_zero]

As far as I know it's the stock clutch, yah. I certainly didn't replace it and the previous owner didn't seem like the type to put in an ACT or something.

So not being the clutch, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing...
Are there any other things I could/should check, based on the symptoms I described? I checked the clutch fluid the other day, that's at the MIN level... There's a little bit of play in the shifter cable bracket on the tranny so it moves back and forth a little when someone shifts... The clutch fluid didn't seem to be leaking anywhere... I couldn't really think of anything else to look at. I don't wanna admit defeat and take it to the mechanic yet... Any ideas?