How would you know if your clutch was going out?

Well, I took my s-10 into a shop to have the transmission looked at (lost 5th gear) and he informed me that my clutch is going out. It feels fine to me, and my parents have driven it as well and say it's ok, but the mechanic insisted that it's going out. I think he might just be trying to pick up more business. What signs would tell me if my clutch was going out? Also, what would cause it to go out? Thank you guys :)

Just ask him why he thinks it is going out. A clutch can do anything from make excessive noise when pushed in to slipping or not engaging fully. The bad thing about hydraulic clutches are they give little indication.

My 99 gave gave out unexpectedly. Actually, I should have known at the time to have it looked at when the "idiot light" kept going on at highway speeds. At first it went on occasionally then after a while, it went on more frequently. Then one day the clutch just took a crap.

Usually, the clutch disc itself wears down and that is what goes bad. Sometimes, the pressure plate gets weak. In any event, you will notice the engine rpm increasing while you are not accelerating. I.E. - going up a hill and the engine speed goes up but the vehicle speed doesn't or even slows down.

Also, your slave cylinder could also be going bad. When you would push the clutch in and try to shift, you would grind gears.

There are other things but are not as common, the first paragraph is the most common.

yesterday night i pushed in the clutch and went to put it in first gear and it wouldnt go. so i let off the brake and rolled a little bit then tried putting it into gear and it went. i have had this problem with reverse too and it seems to grind when i put it in 3rd gear on the occasion or slip out of third into nuetral. could this be the clutch and slave cylinder or one or the other.

it could be your master and/or slave cylinder. when you depress the clutch pedal your not disengauging the clutch disc fully causing hard shifts or even grinding shifts. bleed your clutch fluid first before you go any further. your clutch pedal should only have ~1" of free travel before you start feeling resistance from the pressure plate springs. i would have to say slipping out of gear would be internal trans damage. this damage probably occured because your clutch disc is not fully disengauging.