Clutch going? Transmission going? Any mechanics here?

[khtm]

So a friend of mine has an older 5SP Mazda pickup truck and here's the problem:

Before the temp gauge is half-way (which takes either a long warm-up or a bit of time driving around), it's pretty much impossible to get it into any gear from a stop (you can try but it just grinds). During this time the clutch feels really light...almost takes no effort at all to put it to the floor.

The only way to get it into gear is to turn off the engine, put it in gear, then start it up again. It's usually a bit harder to start when it's in gear too, but giving some gas usually works.

Once the truck is fully warmed up, it's usually a lot earier to change gears and even stop completely in neutral and then put it back into first.

Lately he's been having trouble putting it in reverse all the time, so he has to do the whole "turning off the engine" trick.

He was telling me all this over beers last night so I thought I'd ask the car geeks on beyond to see if someone knew what was up

Any ideas what the problem is? Clutch or transmission?

[dodad]

yep you need tranny work...new clutch needed and flywheel....i had that problem once with a mazda b2000 got that fixed and was all good.

[khtm]

So it turns out it was the clutch hydraulics...a lot cheaper than a new clutch apparently.

[TurboMedic]

I was gonna say check the clutch cylinders.....but I see thats what happened....