The clutch pedal on my DL dropped to the floor never to return to the upright position the other day, so my first thought was the clutch cable. Stupidly, I bought the cable without checking the car, and it turned out that something else was the problem, although I don't know what. The cable is fine, and it's so loose that I can take it off at either end without any significant effort. For some reason, the clutch release mechanism is stuck down, as though the pedal were depressed, but the clutch is engaged. What are the possibilities here? T/O bearing? Clutch spring? Release mechanism? Is it really worth fixing on a rusty car with 173K and an oil leak, or should I just sell the car for parts?

 

I can drive it without the clutch, but it's a little difficult.

Sounds like maybe the clutch fork broke. This does happen sometimes. Certainly worth fixing if your into pulling the engine to get to it.......

 

GD

The clutch forks crack at the ball socket(pivot point). It is very replacable but does require moving the engine forward or the trans back. Don't have to completely remove but you may want to depending on any service that you may want to do.

Thanks for the replies. I don't really have the time or place to work on the car, so I'm putting it up for sale soon.