clutch or transmission problems? 1992 laser N/T

[TribalTalon]

okay guys, been tryin to figure this out for a while.. a couple weeks ago, i went outside to go to the store, and when i got in, i noticed the clutch felt unusually soft. i went ahead and started it, and had a hard time getting it in gear. then it kind of stuttered off like it was missing real bad. the clutch pedal felt non existant, and i was having a really hard time getting it to go into gear, and when it would, it felt like it was going to stall out or something, but never did. needless to say i turned around and came back.. i turned the car off, and looked and my clutch resevoir was full. when i got back in, it wouldnt go anywhere. it easily goes into gear. and the clutch pedal even feels fine now. i put it in first gear and it just revs freely. engine is idling normal, car feels perfectly fine other then the fact it wont go anywhere. we checked at the engine, and the levers are moving for the gear shift, so its going into gear, and the little lever underneath for the clutch slave is moving as well, so i know everything's moving. what can it be? my clutch NEVER slipped before this. the only other thing i can think of is that i got the water pump replaced a couple days before, is it possible they did something wrong reinstalling whatever? anything obvious to check? this doesnt sound like crankwalk does it?

 

[FastYZFR6]

I am sure it's not crank walk on a 6-bolt motor that is rare. My guess would be the clutch disk itself. Read up in problem's people have had with disk's falling appart. I have had the springs from the center pop out and get caught in the release fingers, I have had the friction material tear free from the rivet's you name it. Mostly with aftermarket clutches from places like napa, pepboys, etc. Those are the ones I hae had fail in odd ways OEM ones seem to last till they wear out.

 

[Anonymity]

i know its not the same car but in my starion the TOB wore a grove in the fingers making it hard to shift and did pretty much the same thing with the near stalling and running rpm's in 1st. another thing could be that the car just wasnt warmed up, if it happens again pump the clutch a few times before driving and let it warm up for a few mins it should get the fluids moving.

 

[drivemusicnow]

First thing I would do is check the slave cylinder to see if you see any fluid leaking, as well as how far it the rod is extending. Also make sure that you can't really move the clutch fork by hand.

My overall thought is that the clutch was either defective, or there is some problem between the clutch pedal and clutch. get the car somewhere up on a lift, and remove the little plate that lets you check wear on the clutch. This should give you a much better indication of what is actually happening.