I was driving my 05 Base TL home (140k miles) , treating it nice . When downshifting from 5-4 my shifter wasn't able to get into any gear, I coasted down and was eventually able to get it into 2nd . The rest of the short ride home I only had 6th and 2nd , the shifter didn't even feel like it was getting into the gate , pumping the clutch did not change anything. Today the car started and drove fine in the morning but has done this to me twice today , for 5 mins the car won't shift then it will for a while . not sure what the issue could be . Any input is appreciated. Thanks

 

Could be master or slave cylinder or the clutch itself. Anything else happen prior to this happening or any recent work done?

 

Sooner or later you will need to replace your clutch master cylinder and or the clutch slave cylinder. look at your clutch fluid, is there any green fluid in there? If not, check the water percentage if you have the tool. You should get a good idea from checking the clutch fluid in general, if its well below the max fill line then you have a leak. Check the firewall by the clutch pedal in the interior and under the hood at the firewall to the right side of the clutch reservoir for the master cylinder and look down from the front in front of the engine at the center for the slave.

My car was doing the same thing before I was shifting on the highway to third and my clutch hit the floor completely and I had to coast to the side and tow it because there was zero pressure. My fluid level was good but i believe the previous owner neglected the fluid so even though it looked good, it was shot internally and corroded. So the seals weren't able to make enough pressure until eventually it couldn't hold any. If you are somewhat capable you can do it for less then $150 and a few hours, consider it preventive maintenance and saving you the trouble of being stranded. I can send you some DIY links as well as pointers from doing it myself.

 

Is the clutch fluid level low?
Does the car shift thru gears fine when the engine is turned off?

It needs to be flushed about every year (or maybe 2yrs max). Similarly to brake fluid.

If not, it will collect moisture and start leaking past seals internally or externally, causing an issue.

Try doing a fluid flush first, as that's the cheapest and most simple thing to try.

After that, look into replacement master/slave cyls.

If all that doesn't fix it...

You probably need a clutch.

 

pumping doing nothing leads me to believe clutch