Saturday was nice day and I gave the old girl a bath to remove all the winter grime. Kids took the wife's car to a regional basketball game a couple hours away, so we took mine out in search of bathroom what nots for a remodel. Fun. I know.

Coming home around 10PM, I needed a snack, so I pull into McD's and wait in the drivethru for 20 minutes on a 2 cheeseburger meal. Not knowing I will be in line for 20 minutes, and the drivethru being flat, I just leave it first and hold the clutch in, letting it out slightly in 5 minute increments as the cars ahead of my pull on through.

20 minutes later, cheeseburgers in hand, I start the 10 mile drive home. The drive was normal until I came up to a stop sign a couple miles from home. When I went to downshift from 6th to 5th, I didn't want to go. Having a cheeseburger in one hand and a bag with fries in it between my leg and the console, I just bumped it into neutral and stopped with all brake. Pushed in the clutch and put it in first from a dead stop with no problem. A mile later, I have to turn right. Same thing, doesn't want to downshift. I am cheeseburger free at this point, and find that with a little rev matching, downshifting is possible. Again as I slow down for my driveway, rev matching is the only way I can downshift, though pushing in the clutch pedal does make it somewhat more forgiving. The pedal returns fine, but feels very soft.

Sunday morning, wife's car is up in the air for a brake job and oil change. Not thinking about the night before, I tell to take mine for her running around. She goes to leave and says it feels funny, and won't shift. She takes the daughter's B5 and leaves. I get in mine, start it in neutral, depress the clutch, no going into gear. Shut it off, goes into all gears easily. Put it in reverse, start it, and the clutch pedal does nothing. I chug it outta the garage and shut it off. Brake fluid is a little low, but well above minimum. I top it off good measure, with DOT4 of course. When I depress the brake pedal, I can see a slight change in the fluid level. When I press the clutch pedal, I see no change at all.

I let it set all day, and after wrapping up the work to the wife's car. I hop in and it seems almost normal, but the pedal is still soft and engagement seem to be clear down by the floor. I drive it around a bit and then jack up the front end. Brake fluid level had not changed and I see no signs of a leak around the slave cylinder. The bottom of the bellhousing is a little moist, but looks more like oil that has just trickled down to the lowest point. In the 2 oval shaped holes on the bottom of the bellhousing, there are some fibrous strands of clutch material, nothing major, which I assume is normal.

I drove it to work today, and still have a soft pedal with low engagement that does OK for upshifting, but requires some revs to downshift. Brake fluid level is unchanged.

The clutch was replaced by a independent mechanic just before I got the car with 110K miles. I was provided with the receipt for the work, and the old clutch was in the trunk. The car is now at 135K, and has never had any slipping issues, well, not never. After a couple of hard, newbie launches and a failed attempt to teach my 17 year son to drive a stick, it did slip a little, but cleared up quickly after it cooled off.

This is my first car with a manual transmission and I know just enough to be dangerous. My best SWAG is that my clutch master cylinder is leaking internally past it's seals and not transferring fluid properly. I wouldn't expect mechanical failure in the clutch, the throwout bearing or the pilot bearing to appear without warning, or for a mechanical failure to almost go away.

Anything I'm missing or just flat wrong about? Besides eating at McD's or shopping for bathroom decor with the wife on a Saturday night.