Hey guys,

I currently have a 2000 ES Protégé with the 1.8 and it has the 5 speed manual. I am new to manual as this is my second manual car. The first car I had was a 5 speed Ford Focus Zx3 with a 5 speed manual, which had the clutch go out on me on the highway. I sold that car and bought this car and it was well maintained and has a lot of records. It currently has about 175k on the dash and about a month to a month and a half ago I noticed the clutch pedal lost a little bit of pressure but I had thought nothing of it. Recently the clutch pedal got even softer than it was before and now its got me worried. I am not sure if it has anything to do with the slave cylinder or any of the linkage on the pedal or if the clutch is on its way out. It's one of the smoothest and best handling cars I have driven and I enjoy it as a daily driver but replacing a clutch at a shop is a lot of money and I don't have the proper tools for a clutch replacement. I don't know if all 5 speeds are the same or if I have a specific transmission but the car seems to drive fine and I haven't smelt any clutch dust and it seems to drive like normal. I don't even believe the bite point has shifted either so I am not sure what the issue is here. Still very new to this platform and learning more and more about mechanics each year but there is no one clear answer to diagnose my specific issue. I have been driving manual for about a year now so I am not sure if I am driving the car incorrectly or not.

Any and all advice is appreciated and I thank you all for your time to answer me!