2002 2.7 Boxstr Clutch Pedal Issues

[germaneighter]

Recently noticed the clutch seemed to engage immediately as the pedal started to come up. Soon after I noticed it getting progressively harder to put the car in gear at a dead stop. Then it was getting a little stiff going into 2nd. Clutch pedal also seemed like it did not travel down as far as it normally did. I bled the slave cylinder (manually - do not have a power bleeder). (The bleeder was only finger tight....) Got quite a bit of air bubbles so I was hopeful the problem was fixed. Test drive - the pedal did not feel any different and the clutch engagement felt the same. Then the pedal kind of popped and dropped further down as I depressed it. It would come up slightly and engage but I had to pull it all the way up with the top of my foot. Got home and noticed clutch fluid running out of the flywheel inspection hole. I assume the slave cylinder blew out but would like to know if anyone else has had this experience. 140K Miles on the original clutch so I can't complain.