And I'm guessing you're not the first owner of your car, right?

I haven't looked, but those wires don't look OEM.... Maybe there was an alarm or something previously?

 

it could be that or his slave is going bad or he needs to adjust his pedal. thats the problem i had with my del sol. after i had a bad master cylinder i replaced it but i still had weak pressure so i rebled it. still weak so i changed the slave after that blew on me and i had brake fluid all over my tranny. so i still had weak pressure and wound up rebleeding and adjusting my pedal and was like new again.

 

The fluid level drops imperceptibly as the clutch wears. If the fluid is below the min mark, it was either removed by an unscrupulous mechanic or it leaked. Check the master cylinder (on the inside of the firewall, where the pushrod from the pedal goes into the firewall) and the slave (on the driver's side of the transmission, just about under your feet, covered in a black rubber boot) for leaks.

You should consider replacing the master and slave as a set as they tend to fail at about the same time.

I disagree with wildncrazy, well, at least, I agree there is less heat, but I still think you should use a good fluid. I'm not sure if it's because there is so little of it, or what, but I find that clutch fluid fouls up faster than brake fluid.

I also would NEVER flush a leaking system. Add fluid, that's fine, but if you flush it you will probably find your minor leak will become a huge one.

If you flush, clean the reservoir with a clean shop towel as best you can to get all debris/gunk out.

 

I think this is becoming something out of my expertise. I will have to bring it to the shop sometime this weekend. At least now I have an idea of what could be wrong.

Again,
thank you all!

 

Those wires might be for the siren on aftermarket alarm!

Did you trying shifting to 2nd gear then back to 1st?

 

Tidus,
Yes I was able to switch to 2nd and then 1st and vice versa. I played with all the gears back and forth to test and even drove around the block to see if everything was okay. Thank you for the wire information. I was concerned because my car was broken in once (got GPS stolen) and I thought somebody had messed with the engine bay because soon after that is when the clutch problem began to take place.

khanh

 

When was the last time you changed the transmission oil? Older oil + Low temperatures will certainly cause the symptoms you are having, change the gear oil out and let us know what happens.

 

Hi 4evertopless,
I have never changed the transmission oil since I have only owned the car since feb 08. Oh one thing I forgot to mention - I bought it at 52k miles and now it sits at ~55k miles. Yes I will let you know what happens as I plan t take it to the shop this weekend. Thank you!

khanh

 

It turns out that the clutch slave cylinder was leaking fluid, which explains the clutch fluid level being low - and thus the clutch problem. I'm down $400, but at least shes running good again.

 

that's an expensive fix, it shouldn't cost 400 to fix the slave : / . When i fixed my master, same thing happened, it was around 200-250. Can't imagine the slave be anymore difficult or expensive to fix.