Hi all, hopefully somebody can shed some light on what seems like a strange problem...

2006 Focus 1.6 Ti petrol 55,000 miles

Bought the car from a local garage around 5 months ago. Noticed last week that the clutch seemed to be getting right to the very top of it's biting point. Confirmed what i thoguht was worn clutch by dipping clutch peddle slightly in 5th and noting a lot of slip before power being fully transmitted again. (Note - I realise this accelerates clutch wear so not done repeatedly!)

Car was still driveable though and clutch wear not really noticeable in day to day driving.

Last night was waiting at traffic lights with car in neutral, lights went green but could not get first gear... in fact could not get any gear. Lever just showed lots of resistance when tried to engage. Switched engine off and managed to get 4th and set off in that gear veeeeeeeeery slowly. Could not select any other gears once moving and clutch slipping badly when accelerating.

I'm a little confused by all this. I understand the worn clutch and the associated slipping, but why could I not select any gears? This would maybe point to a slave cylinder problem but seems a bit of a coincidence that both would fail at same time. Any ideas?

Sounds like a thrust bearing or master/slave cylinder fault.

Check your fluid reservoir and if need be try bleeding off the system.

Thanks Clive. The fluid reservoir is the same as the brake fluid one right? If so, I thought that has a warning on dash if low anyway.. but maybe wrong,

Not being able to select a gear is usually indicative of clutch drag.

You may well find that your clutch wear was caused by that rather than the other way round i.e. The clutch not fully disengaging when the pedal is pressed.

Check the master and plate cylinder pistons for functionality.

Your slipping could be down to fluid getting onto the plate from a leaking slave had this prob on my sons old astra