I'm new to this, forgive my ignorance.

I have a 1987 22RE 4Runner that has sat for 18 months. When I parked it 18 months ago, the clutch worked fine. I just tried to drive it and the clutch doesn't work now. These are the details:

1. When the engine is off, I can move the shifting rod through gears 1-5, but not reverse, whether I am pressing the clutch pedal or not.

2. When the engine is running, I cannot shift into any gear, whether I am pushing on the clutch pedal or not. When I try to shift into gears 1-5 it just won't go. When I try to shift into reverse there is a grinding sound.

3. If the engine is off, and I shift into first gear, push down on the clutch pedal, and then try to start the engine, the car jerks forward and the engine doesn't start--I'm understanding this to say that first gear is engaged and the clutch plate is engaged with the flywheel when I turn the ignition key, despite pressing down on the clutch pedal, but of course my understanding could be wrong.

4. The pedal is not spongy, the reservoir is full. The slave rod seems to be moving about 1" when my friend pushes the clutch pedal, and the rod is engaging with the clutch fork in what seems to be a normal manner. The clutch fork seems to be moving normally.

So I watched a YouTube video because I'm new to all this, and it seems that for some reason the clutch plate will not disengage from the flywheel, and that the problem was caused by not being driven for 18 months, so I'm thinking is there a spring that lost it's "springy-ness" or something like that? Are the two plates "stuck" together, bc rust, or other chemical reaction or some other reason?

Thanks so much for any ideas / recommendations for further diagnosis or treatment.

 

Clutch master cylinder or slave cylinder.
Try a bleed down of the entire system first. You may have picked up some moisture in your brake fluid from sitting so long. You can gravity flush the system yourself. Place a container under the slave cylinder. Open the bleed nut (8mm)? and the fill cap for the clutch reservoir. Let all the old fluid drain out. Leaving everything as is, start adding fresh fluid to the system. Let the fluid flow until you see only fresh fluid coming from the slave cylinder. Immediately close the slave bleed valve. Be sure you don’t let the master cylinder level go below the low setting while doing this.
Top off the reservoir with brake fluid, then try the clutch.

The slave rod itself should be adjusted to almost touching the clutch fork. Maybe 1/8” or so.

 

Thank you so much for this help. I replaced the slave cylinder and it worked! I really thought the problem was within the clutch, but you saved me a ton of time and trouble. Thank you!