My fiancee's '97 Acura Integra is having funny clutch problems. We tried calling Car Talk (you call 888-CAR-TALK and leave a message; they call you back if they're interested), but they haven't called us back. So, I'll throw it out here for the empeg masses to ponder.

Over the past few months, her Integra has developed trouble getting into first gear. You'll be at a stop light in neutral. Green light. Clutch in. Stick won't go into first. You pull it into second and maybe it will get back into first afterward. Maybe you double clutch and you can finally get it in. This happens maybe 5-10% of the time. The only workaround has been to get it into first while you're pulling up to the light (put smooth pressure on the stick while coasting to a stop and it will usually slip in at some point). If it's in first and you've got the clutch in, everything starts just fine.

Then, a few weeks ago, things got much worse. The car just wouldn't get out of gear at all. We concluded that the car was unfit to drive and had it towed to a nearby station, fearing the worst. They found that the clutch master cylinder had leaked out all the hydraulic fluid. Unsurprisingly, pressing the clutch pedal wasn't having much effect on the clutch, itself. For $300, they replaced the master cylinder and the car was good to go. The aforementioned first-gear problem was not effected by this repair.

Now, a few weeks later, the clutch "feel" has noticably deteriorated. For lack of a better term, the clutch has something of a rubbery feel. We suspect something may be still amiss with the hydraulics and plan to bring it in for another look. Any thoughts on what might be causing the first-gear issues and/or whether there might be further hydraulic problems?