is my clutch gone?....i think so

[gingerbreadman]

its a 1979 fj45 that has been going pretty strong for me until now. what i noticed first was 1st gear was a little hard to grab going from neutral at times. next thing i noticed was when i start to release the clutch to move it was only a short movement before it disengaged as in i dont have much free play anymore. its all in the first 2 inches from the floor....now reverse is difficult to grab....

im going to go check the clutch fluid and have a look at a few things but what do you think?

[RED60]

Easy things first.... low fluid level... slave cylinder leak.... master cylinder leak....leaky pipe between these two (unlikely but not impossible)... then clutch... but my suspect would be one of the first 3

[Clanky]

when clutches wear out they normally start to take up higher from the floor
If this is something that has just started happening then I would be looking at clutch master and slave cylinder and also any rubber hoses in the system.
If the system is getting air in or fluid is leaking out there is a couple of easy checks.

1.Engine running, Pump the clutch pedal a number of times and see if you can engage gears easier on the last time. This would indicate air in the system. Sometimes these can suck air without leaking oil and no manner of bleeding can get the air out
2. Engine running, and put the car in gear and hold the clutch down on the floor. If it starts to drive the car forward without you doing anything this would indicate an oil leak.
3. look up under the dash where the clutch master cyl comes through. If it is wet (usually black oily muck) then the master cylinder is leaking.
4. Under the car if you peel back the rubber boot on the outside of the slave cylinder piston and fluid comes out, then this is leaking

My experience is its best to replace both master and slave (and any suspect hoses) at the one time as they have all done the same amount of work. If you only do half the old stuff will come back to haunt you later

If none of the above, you could have a failing clutch pressure plate diaphram

[gingerbreadman]

thanks blokes. i reaqd your replies carefully. so here is where i am up too....

fluid level good but certainly not looking the best . so i have drained it and it appears to be coming out quite easy using the gravity method. as the canister gets half way empty i kept topping it up till it came out clean at the bleeder then i locked it off.

no obvious leaks at booster, slave cylinder etc. boot removed and is very dry.

now onto your recommendations clanky. pumped clutch and no improvement on step 1

step 2 it is is fine but it only takes the slightest release of the pedal and i will be moving.

i am going to go adjust my pedal height but im not sure if this will help.

[gingerbreadman]

hit the jackpot fellas. once i emptied out the reservoir fully there was a shit load of sludge in bottom. cleaned it out and topped it up and then adjusted my peddle height and now its back to where i remember it being . if it changes again for the worse over the next few weeks ill have to look further .

[McLarryBob]

If you're still not 100% satisfied with your result, and you have a regular honest mechanic, You could take it to him to check out for you. If the clutch is going it would only take about 5 mins of his time to take it for a drive find this out and he probably wouldn't charge you for this very quick and easy job.

[MrGrim]

you can also do an easy look at it by taking out the starter and you can see the thickness of the plate by rotating the fly untilll you can see the plate through the gap