Manual Transmission Won't Shift After Car Sat for Week

[Koolkev]

2000 MT, has bad synchros, which i have learned to ignore. It was working ok and I let it sit a week. I had to move the car into the garage and it wouldn't go into gear.

The question is is there a reservoir for the clutch or anything like that that would cause sudden change?

[02insight]

yes, check the clutch fluid resevoir to see if its not empty, which could be causing the clutch to not disengage. It is near the 12v battery, towards the far drivers side. Brake fluid reservoir it also there, and the clutch fluid is to the right of that (looking from the front)

does the clutch pedal feel unusually light?

I think it is possible to lose all the clutch fluid. It happened to me while driving once, and it has happened to a friend of mine. We could never figure out where it leak from and where it goes.

If it is emtpy, then you probably will have to bleed the system also.

[Koolkev]

Your directions confirmed my suspicions. The resivour was at bottom. I will get some fluid tomorrow.

Do I need to bleed the cylinder. It isn't like the breaks exactly. If i put some in and I get pressure back that should be good, no?

[02insight]

if air has got into the lines, you will have to bleed it, otherwise the engagement or feel will probably not be firm or proper.

when my fluid emptied, I just refilled it, and I didnt have to bleed, but when my friend's fluid leaked out, after filling it, it would not develop pressure, so we had to bleed it.

But bleeding it on the insight isnt that hard of a process. Just need 2 people to do it right. One to press the clutch pedal and another to open and close the bleeder valve on the clutch slave cylinder near the front of the transmission

[Aaron Cake]

Clutch slave and master cylinders will often leak into their boots. In the case of the slave, this will dribble down into the bellhousing and disappear. For the master, this will get soaked up by the insulation material on the firewall and also appear to disappear.

Removal and inspection of each part should turn up the leak.

Typically, when one cylinder fails, the other should be replaced as well because it's not far off from failing either. And the new cylinder stronger will put more stress on the old part, so likely it will fail.

[gilbertguy]

To see the master cylinder you have to get down and follow the cluth pedal up to the hinge point inside the car, it will be linked to a rod going into the firewall. That is the piston slide for the master cylinder, mine had fluid stains running down from it when mine failed. I just figured since I had 250,000 miles and one had failed the other wasn't to far behind so for piece of mind I replaced them both at same time and bleed the system, been working great since.

This link may help as it shows how to replace master and slave cylinder.
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