Have S reg 1.8 and about a week ago it started to struggle to go into gear, then yesterday it stopped going into gear with a grinding sound, had a look at it and it seemed the gear linkage rods "think thats what there called at the back of the engine" were loose.

Took it to the garage this morning by putting it in 2nd then starting the enging, felt like it wanted to pull off even when the clutch was pressed, was told the clutch wasnt seperating and needed a new one at £400.

Went to drive off and the gears worked fine again, drove it around for 15 mins with no probles at all.

Any ideas what it defenatley is or is it just a case of new clutch.

Thanks for any advice.

probably leaking slave cylinder, check your brake fluid level, if its low it probably means you need a new slave cylinder, which is the piston on top of the gearbox. (common fault, very easy to do yourself and costs £27)