I have a 1990 Honda Accord with a manual transmission, with almost 300,000 kms on it.

It is difficult to get the gear from neutral to 1st, and 1st to 2nd.
Also, during the winter months, there has been a lot of squealing when I release the clutch.
Also, occasionally, there is a jerking motion when I release the clutch after engage to 1st gear.

Q1) Has the clutch worn out completely, or can I make it last a bit longer?
Q2) If the clutch fails, will it cause any damage to anything? If not, I was thinking of changing it when it failed.

 

It sounds somewhat like your clutch is going. You'll know its really going when you goto accelerate and the engine speed gets higher but not the actual speedometer. It wont really mess anything up once the clutch goes...it'll just prevent you from gettin into any gear at all. You might want to just get it changed now so you dont have to worry about the towing charge when you cant get it in gear. I have around 238,000 miles on my car and just got the clutch changed for the first time around 10,000 miles ago at most.

 

Thanks for your help... your comments are quite helpful.