Chrysler Repair: 08 PT Cruiser 5 speed Man. Trans: difficult downshiting

Question
It is very hard to down shift into 1st or 2nd, sometimes 3rd. It does not happen all the time. We traveled from Milwaukee, WI to Knoxville, TN. The car was in a mechanic who redid the brakes and it was good for 3-4 weeks. Pumping the clutch seems to help. I am not seeing if there is a place to check transmission fluid. The car was sold as a 2008 but was manufactured in Nov 2007. Since we are not in Milwaukee I would like to know more.

Answer
Hi Billie,
The fluid level in the transmission is checked at its fill hole on the transmission but that is probably not the reason for the difficulty in downshifting.
The first thing to do is bleed the clutch's actuating hydraulic system of some of its fluid because there may be air in the system's fluid which causes the clutch to not disengage fully when you use the pedal. The clutch system actually is 'fed' brake fluid from the brake master cylinder reservoir if it loses fluid, and perhaps in the course of working on the brakes the mechanic allowed the brake fluid level in that reservoir to fall too low and that allowed air to get into the clutch's hydraulic system. 'Pumping' the pedal helping the situation suggests too this may be the reason.
I have the pages which show how to do that "bleed" on a CD which I can copy and attach to an email I would send to you directly. But if you tell me your email address don't use the @ symbol, instead use "at" or the address will be erased. You can then either do the bleed yourself or give the pages to a mechanic to follow.
Mention which size engine (L) you have.
Roland