'03 GT - Can't disengage the clutch

Technical info on the Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Matrix including do-it-yourself info
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jcharles00
Posts: 23
Joined: Sat Jun 01, 2013 5:27 pm

'03 GT - Can't disengage the clutch

Post by jcharles00 »

I was driving home on the highway and went to shift from 4 to 5 and the stick didn't want to go.. I forced it in. thought maybe it was a synchro thing, but the pedal felt funny too. the next time I tried to shift, I realized that the clutch wasn't disengaging when I put the pedal down - verified when I got home and rolled into the driveway and the car killed the engine with the clutch pedal all the way in..

so.. anyone have thoughts on what I'm up against here? My first shot in the morning is going to be checking the fluid.. (which seems like an unlikely thing to cause this so suddenly) What else might it be?

I'm at about 170k miles.. maintenance is starting to get expensive. I already decided that I'm not putting another clutch in. meh.
302LVR
Posts: 56
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2016 2:04 pm
Location: South Florida

Re: '03 GT - Can't disengage the clutch

Post by 302LVR »

Pretty sure it's gonna be your clutch master cylinder/slave cylinder which is what engages your clutch hydraulically. If that part fails or the seal loses pressure, it won't engage you're clutch properly. You may also wanna check the rubber bushings on your clutch cable endlinks in case they broke or fell out of place. When these are bad they will cause sloppy shifting and gear engagement will feel off and probably grind between gears. You can just buy the solid brass or aluminum bushings to fix that sloppy shifter issue but i'm 90% sure it's your clutch slave cylinder that failed. Good luck.
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