When I get into my truck first thing in the morning, the clutch is on the floor. I can still get it into gear, but its a bit strange to feel it that way.
Once I get moving, going into to second, third, etc., the clutch works fine. And getting it into first is no problem if I stop and need to move forward again.
The only problem seems to be the very first thing in the morning.
How much longer do I have before the clutch needs work?
I’m not clear on what you mean … your clutch pedal is all the way down … you put the transmission in gear … and what, do you pull the pedal up to engage the transmission?
Is there a puddle of hydraulic fluid anywhere and is the reservoir full?
No fluid on the ground, don’t know about the reservoir. I put my foot under the clutch pedal and pull it up. There seems to be just enough clutch to get it in gear. For the rest of the day, the clutch works fine.
Sound suspiciously like a hydraulic problem. The rubber seals around the hydraulic piston are slowly leaking. During the day you keep pumping up the pressure and it works fine, but then just sitting overnight the pressure leaks around the rubber seals.
If so, then this is a case of “God warns every nation before He destroys them” … get this checked out right away … be ready to pay, and it does have to be done.
I have no idea if your car uses the same hydraulic system for both clutch and brakes … if it does … then fix this immediately … as though your life depended on it.
You’re right about this. It’s not the clutch mechanism (disc and pressure plate), it’s a hydraulic cylinder starting to fail, most likely the master cylinder. It’s hard to predict when it stop working at all – could be weeks or months away, could be tomorrow. Cold weather usually makes this kind of problem worse.
No vehicle uses the same hydraulic system for these. Some share the same fluid reservoir, but plumbed in such a way that even total leakage of the clutch cylinders won’t drain the reservoir for the brakes.