My Stepson's 1988 Corolla - Clutch Related?

[delliott101]

New to this forum... need help.

My stepson has a 1988 Corolla. He has problems shifting and I think it is the clutch. There is plenty of fluid in the master cylinder. If he starts his car in neutral, he cannot shift at all. He just stays in neutral. If we start in gear, he is able to shift smoothly in all gears and reverse.

Tonight he says he cannot shift at all. I am kind of at a loss as far as what to do. If the clutch NEEDS to be replaced, how big of a job is that? I have been leaving it to him to get a Haynes or Chilton's manual, but he's 19 and on his own and would rather spend his money on other stuff. I know more about old air-cooled VWs than Toyotas.

I think there are about 175,000 miles on the car. I don't think it's the transmission. Any help or advice is appreciated!

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

It could be the transmission, or the shifter linkage, the shifter or other possibilities. I recommend getting the vehicle to a competent transmission shop, or a Toyota Dealer for proper diagnosis.

Good luck with it.

 

[delliott101]

Thanks for the suggestions, but the kid has no money to bring it to a garage...

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

Well then, be sure not to do the parts replacement thing hoping beyond hope that it will fix something. That's a huge waste of money that many people fall into the trap of doing.

 

[Ae92wagon]

does it grind when he tries to put it into gear? or just will not go period? thats kind of a big question... if it grinds going in then u have a clutch/pressure plate/throwout bearing issue. if it does not grind then i would say shift linkage synchros etc... it could be a lot more things tho. diagnosing a problem like that without personally seeing what it is doing is difficult