Toyota Repair: 95 Celica, manual transmission, clutch master cylinder, clutch system

Question
LOVE my car. It's been perfectly maintained, always ran like a dream and I have 180,000 miles on it, no major problems until now. I am unable to shift the car into gear, it feels locked in neutral.For a time I was able to turn the engine off, put it into first gear then start the engine and it would shift after that, although sometimes be difficult to engage in 2nd or 3rd but I was able to get it in. No longer. Now I am unable to shift at all, the gears make a grinding noise it I force it and the engine dies.  Is this a transmission problem or a clutch problem??  HELP.  I don't want a new car. Thank you

Answer
This is typical of a hydraulic fluid leak in the clutch system, the first thing to do is check the clutch master cylinder under the hood and check the fluid level, it may be very low allowing air to enter the system which means there is a leak in the system, in this case I would recommend replacing both the clutch master cylinder and the release cylinder on the transmission, either one or both are leaking and at this mileage both should be replaced to avoid future problems. If the fluid is not low and you never had to add any fluid let me know.