manual transmission advice (not in VX)

[etlsport]

my g/f told me last night something was wrong with the clutch in her 95 del sol.. said that for about the first 5 minutes of driving it would feel very spongy and occasionally not even let her shift, after about 5 minutes it would be fine, before i got a chance to drive it she called and said she cant get into gear at all and when she presses the clutch in, it just stays in until she pulls it back out, even after letting the car warm up for 10 minutes she cant get it into gear... ill be going to look at it later, any suggestions?

to me it sounds like a leak, im not even sure if shes got a hydraulic clutch.. but it sounds like maybe a seal has finally given out because of the cold (its been below freezing all week and for the first time since shes owned the car) but then again ive got just general knowledge of MTs...

any help would be GREATLY appreciated

[ZEUS]

Yeah, it sounds like the reservoir has gone dry. So there is no clutch engagement. The bigger problem could be though, where is the slave cylinder? I had a Jeep in which the slave cylinder was in the bellhousing. If there was a leak inside the "bellhousing" it could have contaminated the clutch disc and it would need to be replaced. Just an internet guess though....

[Joe_Black]

Time to cruise some Del Sol forums, as hunting down a mid-engine transverse layout for the reservoir and any bleed points will likely not be easy. Then again, what you seek could be in the owners manual too!

[nbvolks]

Time to cruise some Del Sol forums, as hunting down a mid-engine transverse layout for the reservoir and any bleed points will likely not be easy. Then again, what you seek could be in the owners manual too!

Del Sols are FF not MR.

[etlsport]

yes indeed.. engines up front..

i picked up a haynes manual, read the section on bleeding the hydraulic system, doesnt make it sound difficult at all, makes no reference to even removing anything, so hopefully everythings easy to get to once the cars in the air (im just glad shes parked in a flat lot) i went out there last night to scope it out.. the resivoir for the master cylinder was empty, i put some dot III brake fluid (thats what the cap on it said), had her pump the clutch a little, got some air bubbles then a very nasty looking greenish fluid.. then the clutch would come out on its own but still couldnt get into gear.. guess tonight ill go out there and actually bleed the system and hope that works

[nbvolks]

Yeah, if it's gone bone dry you'll need to bleed the system of any air otherwise there'll be little to no effect from simply dumping in fluid at this point. Another concern, especially if it was over a prolonged period, is that the master cylinder seal may be compromised at this point from being forced around dry.

[Joe_Black]

Del Sols are FF not MR.

Oops! Dated a lady who had one back when they were new and just had it in my head they were mid-engine. My apologies for posting before checking my facts.

[nbvolks]

Oops! Dated a lady who had one back when they were new and just had it in my head they were mid-engine. My apologies for posting before checking my facts.

hehe...no biggy...they sort of look as if that's how they are, and I remeber reading something somewhere that listed them as MR as well.