Hey guys, I was driving my car last night and when I got off the highway, it became very tough to shift into gear. Each gear (namely 1st and reverse), have to be pressed pretty hard in order to get it in. Every now and then, any given gear will stick. Taking off in first and reverse is somewhat rough, and requires little to no clutch release for movement. When I slow down in first, the car shudders a little as well. I just finished bleeding the clutch, so I'm left to believe that it's either my slave cylinder (hopefully) or my throw out bearing (which would SUCK). I just installed the clutch 10k miles ago when I put my new motor in. Unfortunately, the motor is not sitting on a pad this time, and I'm not going through the work of pulling the tranny, restabbing it, etc., again. Can anyone offer an opinion or similar situation they've had as a reference for me please? I don't know the symptoms of clutch or slave cylinder failures, so I hate to sound like a moron, but ANY advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks guys.

 

Did you not replace the throw out when you put in the new clutch?

 

Of course! The entire clutch assembly was replaced (throw out bearing, pressure plate and disc), which is why I'm thinking it must be the slave or master cylinder. Neither of the above leaks, though. What are the symptoms of their failure??

 

Most often it is leaking. Did you look inside under the dash? I guess if you're feeling ballsy, you could unbolt the slave from the tranny and have somebody press the clutch for you, but I don't know how much throw the piston is supposed to have. An inch and a half or so, I would guess... But you might f something up if you do it without having resistance.

 

There's nothing leaking under the dash.