Lifted Clutch Pedal '04 Ion
 

Recently purchased an '04 Ion cheap as dirt and have been fixing one problem after another as to be expected. Currently battling a clutch pedal issue. Had it towed to a shop for an unrelated problem and when I picked it up the next day the clutch pedal was way higher than normal. Neither tow truck driver nor shop know when it happened, of course. Push rod is still connected to the pedal and the little white plastic bushing looks to be in great condition. What's puzzling me is what is causing the pedal to be so high that it's pulling the push rod completely out of the hole that leads to the master cylinder. Any insight is greatly appreciated!

My initial thought was the bushing that sits in the pedal itself. Remove the white clip, pop the ball out from the clutch master, and see if thr ball or that clip is worn.
if not, your clutch master has failed internally and will give out any day now

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sat...98d5ee89d.jpeg
Should the push rod be seated in a ball joint in the circled end?
Clip end is fine. If the other end should be seated in a ball joint then either the mechanic or someone at the shop knew they did this and attempted a coverup.

It almost acts like a syringe. But not super tight. Its normal for a small amount of play in it.
Clutch masters are an extremely common failure on these 5 speeds. Since my factory one gave at 90k, ive replaced them every 30-40k miles.
I'm sure I could get more if I babied it. But that the general consensus of people ive interacted with

Eureka!
 

So there’s a small ring with a few prongs that holds it in place. If one of those prongs breaks, as in my case, the rod slides right out of the cylinder. My new go to shop had the part on hand and just replaced the clip for almost nothing.

Clip on the firewall? Or the one in the pedal?