Symptoms of a bad slave cylinder vs symptoms of a bad clutch

[brownstud08]

I have a 05 6 speed with 48,000 miles and something about the clutch feel is wrong. the clutch disengages almost as soon as i lift the pedal and the pedal is extremely soft. my question is, is it the clutch that's gone bad or has the slave cylinder gone bad? What are the symptoms for each? I doubt its the clutch since the car only has 48,000 miles. Your thoughts?

[mattiouti]

try bleeding the system. might be air in it. i believe you are supposed to replace brake/power steering fluid every 3 or four years

[dirtybrd]

I'd look to see if the slave cylinder is making full stroke, it should move at least an inch.

[old guy]

First check your fluid level. If the slave cylinder is bad you will be losing brake fluid. If the fluid level is good try pumping the clutch pedal several times before putting it in gear and starting off. If that makes a difference I would suspect you have a worn master cylinder. If pumping it doesn't make a difference you probably need to pull the tranny to find the problem. But before you take that step you should bleed the system to make sure the issue isn't air in the hydraulics.