Clutch issue

[fdepauls]

I have a 98 S10 with about 88,000 miles and a while back I thought my clutch went out. I have to pump the clutch to get it into 2nd and agetting it into 1st is almost impossible. If I take the fluid cap off and pump several times, the pedal gets tighter and then I can shift into gears easily. I let it sit for a day and the same problems occur.
I check the clutch fluid resivoir and added a little fluid.
The cap has a suft rubber "thing" ( i am auto idiot, no denying it) that sticks out, does the fluid go to the bottom of it, my book is no good at telling me.

I have read other posts and it seems that bleeding the line and getting new fluid in should be the 1st step before I go spend several hundred dollars getting it fixed. Plus I dont want someone to charge me a lot just because I needed to bleed the line.

I get the steps that need to be taken to bleed the line... pump clutch several times then hold, open valve but dont drain empty, close valve and then release the clutch.. repeat a couple more times right? Ummm... where is the valve. :-)

Other than that I have had zero problems.

[xtrememeasures10]

Sounds like what happend 2 mine. I came out of school one day and the damn thing would not shift in. the clutch seemed to be alot easier to push down. however everytime i pushed it down it got harder. then it finally felt normal and i could drive. It went on for a while. soon i found myself having to start the car w/ it in first gear whenever i came to a stop because there was no way i could shift. So i took it to AAMCO and they replaced my slave and master cylinder. for 600. If i were you i would have it looked at by someone who knows there stuff.

[OverBoardProject]

I know what you mean Xtreme, but if he can get someont to help him blead the system there is a small chance that it might work.

fdepauls.
Any one that has bled brakes can do the job, so if you have a friend that knows a little about automotive repairs why not just ask them to help you.
It should take less than 1/2 an hour

[xtrememeasures10]

True but. at 88k. Mine went out around then also. Usually you replace the slave and master cyl with the clutch. I guess try to bleed the system. If it doesnt work your out what maybe 10 bucks at the most. dot3 brake fluid is dirt cheap. so if that doesnt work i would take it 2 someone who knows trannys. that isnt my expert area so i leaned away from doing it myself.

[OverBoardProject]

True.

Although I I look at it like if someone you know can work on their full brake system the clutch is basicly the same design, so you can work on it too.

If you change both parts you might want to consider to get the lines blown out (with air to remove all fluid) and use Dot 5 Brake fluid.
http://www.xs11.com/tips/maintenance/maint1.shtml
The reason for this is it doesn't absorb water (which is probably what caused your problem) but it isn't compatable with dot 3 and 4 so that's why I say to blow the lines out. It's fully compatable with the full system though