Understood, just pokin, I replaced the clutch master w/o any drama, was'nt getting enough "throw" I also remember some bushings being involved.

 

That assembly comes pre bled from the factory. Do not open the bleed screw.

When my slave cylinder went, took both hands for me to get the shifter out of gear. There was no pressure holding things off of the flywheel. None. If you can move the shifter in and out of gears with the engine off and not when the engine is on, the issue is likely clutch related. Especially if the car rolls forward under its own power when you have the clutch fully depressed. It pretty much means you are unable to fully disengage the clutch or what's left of it.

 

https://www.cashcarsbuyer.com/transm...en-car-is-off/

Not my go-to place for tech information but it fits the bill

 

bingo

 

The clutch assembly came with a tech phone number so I gave them a call. The guy who answered seemed knowledgeable and told me that
I should bleed it. He said that it would not be necessary to remove the master cylinder but I would have to uninstall the slave cylinder and push on
the push rod to get air bubbles to float to the reservoir in the master cylinder.

I was not too thrilled about the whole operation but I pulled the slave cylinder and sure enough something went wrong. There is a plastic piece that holds
the push rod in place and part of it broke off. I called the tech and he said that it should be all right but agreed with me that if the push rod fell into
the bell housing I would be in deep do do.

I was able to get it back together again and the bleeding did nothing to help. I have been driving and working on manual transmission cars for over
50 years and this is the strangest deal yet. The tech said that it might be parts of the metal linkage that got bent or maybe the fork insid the
bell housing.

I am getting better at shifting gears without the clutch being totally engaged and the car is too old has too many miles and has been beaten up
on other misadventures to spend any more time on it. I am going to get a better battery so I can more easily start/go in first gear.

Thanks everybody for the help, I love Saturns and am going to get another one soon.

 

That plastic piece at the end of the slave rod holds it in place during shipment. Upon install, the plastic breaks free as the rod extends. That plastic piece remains pinned between the rod and the fork forever and ever. You just don't want to drop it into the tranny for obvious reasons.

As I mentioned earlier, trying to bench bleed this master slave combination is more or less not possible except at the factory. That's why it's done there. So you don't have to. Because in all reality, you can't. Everyone is free to try, no issues with that. But most people make it much worse to the point that they have to buy another assembly.

Please realize that eventually, you will get down to . metal on metal which tends to have less than optimal friction and may scorch your flywheel at which point for both these reasons you'll have to pull the trans anyway. So you should seriously consider whether you want to do that now, later, or never.

 

I have been using the car sparingly and there is no clutch at all. I have to start it in first gear and then shift the remaining gearrs on the go.
I am starting to think the problem may be the clutch. I am wondering if maybe the pressure plate failed. Is there a test to determine the
length of travel for the fork?

Thanks everyone for the help!