95 Escort Manual Transmission issue?

[shaffera]

95 Ford Escort 1.9L, 330,000 miles
Never changed the clutch and i bought it with 80k on it. With that said the clutch never slipped and a lot of this is highway mileage so i never saw a reason to change the clutch just because.
Last week i pulled into the driveway i depressed the clutch pedal as i normally do and as i slowed, the car bucked like it was still in gear and didn't recognize the clutch was depressed. When it started bucking i tried to pull the gear shifter to neutral but it wouldn't move, the car finally died in it's parking spot. I quickly popped the hood and had my son press the clutch in and out and all components seemed to be moving fine, i was mainly looking at the slave cylinder assuming since it's a hydraulic clutch if it was a hydraulic issue that wouldn't move if i didn't have hydraulic pressure.. No obvious leaks were noted, i looked at the master cylinder and it seemed a little low but not empty maybe just above min. I filled it to max and still no change. So i assumed it was the clutch finally disinegrated and locked up. Yesterday i got in the car to attempt to move it to the garage to work on it. It started up fine, shifted through all gears with no issue's, drove it around for about 15minutes shifting a lot and pressing the clutch randomly and it worked fine. I brought it back home and tried to kill it a few more times before i got it to the garage, it finally locked again but it was in neutral and i couldn't get into any gear. Turned the car off and then restarted and it shifted into gear, i pulled it into the garage and stopped with no other issue's. Checked closer for leaks, between master and slave and couldn't find any. Pulled speedo cable and checked trans fluid, its brownish red(more brownish) and thin but didn't really smell burnt and it is at the correct level. Linkage has some slop in it but i don't see it binding anywhere, i layed under the car and was able to move linkage in/out of gear with my hand. Sorry for the long story but this really has me baffled, it's easy enough to say the clutch is well over due for changing but since there were no signs of a failing clutch when i drove it i think i need to look elsewhere.
Could it be worn fluid? Could it be debris in the line? Or could it be that the fork just isn't engaging or disengaging properly due to wear? Please help, trying to get a little more out of my daily commuter. Thanks

[denisond3]

Worn fluid - no. Dirt in the line - unlikely. Replacing the clutch master and slave cylinders or making sure the master cylinder is really getting fluid from the brake master cylinder --might-- fix it, and at least thats lots easier to do than pulling the trans (which the service manual says comes out with the engine, not separately). If the clutch release fork had a crack it -might- cause this, but fixing it still involves removing the trans.
I used pliers to repeatedly squeeze the rubber tube from the brake reservoir down to the clutch master cylinder when I had replaced the hydraulics on my 94 Escort. I could see bubbles coming up when I would squeeze, so there had to be air in there....and the air wouldnt bubble up by itself.

[shaffera]

Thanks for the reply. I tried squeazing the tube about 15-20 times and no bubble visible in the master. My clutch pedal feels about the same as it always has, i figured I would have more slop or little resistance from the clutch pedal if it was a hydraulic issue but haven't seen that difference yet. Tough decision to make whether to get into a clutch with 330k on the engine and knowing the other quirks the car has. May be cheaper to see if it will make it to the junkyard so i can at least get $$$ for it. Any otherr input is greatly appreciated at this point i am leaning towards something not syncing between clutch and trans which is why after sitting for a bit it worked again. Thanks again for the input.