This not so much an article on diagnosing a no start problem...as much as it is a study in one mistake snowballing into more..and resulting in a no start problem.

Here is how it all happened. I drive a pickup truck equipped with a straight drive transmission. This particular vehicle uses a hydraulic clutch release system. Anyone who has operated a vehicle with an old style bell crank system can tell you that they are cumbersome,hard to use and unreliable. So a hydraulic system is a wonderful alternative. It is smooth, reliable and greatly reduces the effort to dis-engage the clutch.

Please keep in mind, my truck has over 200 k on it..so a failure like this is not a surprise. Now I had noticed one day that my clutch pedal was feeling low...too much travel before taking the clutch in. A look under the hood revealed that the clutch master cylinder was empty of fluid. I refilled it with brake fluid and went on my way. Two days later I again noticed that the fluid was low and topped it off once again. But I also noticed that there was no fluid leaking out from underneath the vehicle. This thing is now using a pint every two days..with a drinking habit that bad one should be able to notice a puddle I thought. But, i couldn't find one. A clutch master cylinder is mounted on the firewall, so the only other place the fluid had a way of escaping..was inside the cab. A look under the dash revealed a wet and brake fluid soaked carpet. Time for a fix !

A stop at a parts store and 57 bucks later I had a replacement master cylinder. It was just a matter of yanking off the fluid line, removing two bolts and the old master cylinder was in my hands. I put on the new one and topped off the reservoir and..hoping all was well..operated the clutch pedal. It went to the floor with no resistance at all. Air in the line. I crawled underneath and opened the bleeder valve on the slave cylinder and watched as it did not attempt to gravity bleed. This was bad. Not giving up hope..I uncovered my trusty hand operated vacuum pump..attached it to the bleeder valve and began pumping. And before too long..I had fluid flow. This is good. I let it go awhile and after closing the bleeder valve tried the clutch again. Still nothing.
Next I enlisted another person to pump the pedal for me while I operated the bleed valve. Got lots of air,some fluid...and it still didnt want to work. It was time for some research. So I go to the web and look at anything I can find relating to a hydraulic

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