4 Wheel Drive/SUVs: 1992 Jeep YJ 5 speed, Clutch, 4x4

Question
Hi Carl!

My daughter has a 1992 Jeep Wrangler YJ with a 5 speed transmission. This is her 1st car and we have had it for 6 months. Since she is still learning how to drive a stick shift, we go out on the weekends to "practice". Last weekend, we took it out. The 1st few times she started out were fine...it went into gear and shifted easily. About the 5th time, it stopped going into gear...any gear! She made sure the clutch was pushed to the floor but it didn't want to come out of neutral. I took over and it went in fine for me. She was upset thinking that she was the reason for the problem so we left with me driving.

It shifted fine for me about 1/2 dozen times but then stopped going into gear for me as well. Could this problem be something as simple as needing transmission fluid or do you think it could be something much worse? Our neighborhood mechanic says he thinks it's the clutch and says it might be an easy $1000 to fix.

Thanks for your time and opinion...

Answer
Caren,

It sounds like a clutch master cylinder or slave cylinder has gone bad or is leaking.  Check the fluid in the clutch master cylinder first, then look around the bell housing for fluid.  If the slave cylinder goes bad, they usually leak and will drip out around the bell housing.
There are 2 types of slave cylinders.  One is the external, which is a simple replacement.  The other is internal, and the transmission needs to be pulled back to gain access to it, therefore takes more time and work to replace.
If it is a leaking slave cylinder, it wouldn't hurt to check out the clutch plate also, as it may be saturated with fluid and should be replaced also.

Check around with some other reputable shops and get some quotes for the repair.

Carl