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Well after a pretty exhaustive search for air getting into the clutch system I drew a blank. Which meant looking for other less obvious causes.
Finally concluded (and I say this somewhat red-faced
) that the carpet was rucking up underneath the clutch pedal. When I took the carpet up to look at the state of the floor in the driver footwell I don't think I secured it properly. One of the fixing studs proved rather obstinate. So it seems as if the carpet has been creeping down the footwell and as a result I've not been able to depress the clutch properly.
It does seem a little odd though that I was able to shift gears ok with the engine off.
So she's back on the road again (fingers crossed).
Even if the clutch was completely devoid of fluid, you would be able to shift with the engine stationary!
When the engine is running, 2/3 of the gearbox is turning, even in neutral. Depressing the clutch allows the box to stop turning over so gears can be selected. Any partial failure of the hydraulics (or too much carpet) will keep the box turning and make it difficult or impossible to select gears when the car is standing still with the engine running.
Steve