I have a 1998 5 speed Avenger. About 4 months ago,I was at a stop sign andit wouldnt go into gear and it took it about 10 min and a restart before it did. About 2 months ago I was sitting a a red light and pushed in the clutch and it popped, it didnt want to go in gear but I was able to force it in. Every since then, the rpms have been crazy--it idoled at 800 less than normal, when I upshifted the rpms hit 5000, and once i had it at 20 mph in 5th (accident lol) and the rpms hit 6000. Soo being a female I was completely confused.... Now last week, I was sitting at a stop light and went to put it in gear and my car didnt move---it is permanently in neutral. There is no grinding of the gears, the clutch doesnt feel any different when I push it in, and it will go into gear without pushing in the clutch (including reverse).

I was just wondering if anyone knew anything else that could be wrong with it before I spend $300 on a clutch I may not need. If you have any ideas please let me know, it will be greatly appreciated!!!

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This is a difficult troubleshoot process. There are a lot of variables that your issue can be. It can even be more than a couple of things happening. It can be a clutch fork and pivot ball, input splines could be chewed, throw out bearing may be dead or worn (that can be fatal to your crank), syncros, and a lot more. Maybe not all at once, but perhaps a combination of..even just one of the components can cause your issue.
What it initially sounded like, was a tranny fluid issue, then it sounds like the fork/TOB disconnected from each other, which then turned into a mechanical issue (by forcing the tranny into gear), and by forcing it into gear, you may have broke some "dog teeth" or any other gear teeth.
Then again, the clutch may have just "lost" a few springs and can no longer apply any pressure to the flywheel...IMHO, get it checked by a mechanic. There may not be any other alternative, unless you know someone that can take your tranny apart and put it back together again correctly and can spot the problem.
As for the idle issues...I say this is attributed to the tranny problem, unless it just sounds like a motor ready to be laid down to rest or rebuilt.
The "POP" sound and vibration you heard and felt is not a good thing and that concerns me. If it is the clutch, a stock clutch doesn't have to cost you $300, online dealership parts stores charge about half of onsight dealership parts stores. If it is the clutch, I say you lucked out.
I have to say (in a nice voice) to not force your tranny into gear, because not being able to get it into gear is one problem, forcing it can lead to many.

...and welcome to DF..good first question btw, but please post an easy question next time, lol. I'm kidding

Here's a good site to find out about the manual transmission too.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/transmission3.htm
That way, any lingo that goes on between you and a mechanic, you won't be lost...if you don't already know that is

 

lol easy question??? i dont think i have one, or have ever had one lol. I have a general knowledge of cars enough to handle easy problems, but with this one I feared what you are saying---that its more than one problem. Thank you so much for your help, at least I know that I need someone professional to check it out for me, instead of having my dad fix it LOL.

 

Well, if your dad can tackle the tranny, then by all means let him. It will save you some money. It's just that, if it's more than just the clutch or throw out bearing, fork/pivot ball, and it starts getting deep into the tranny, then he may have some issues with that, lol. If he doesn't have all the tools in front of him, it can either lead to more money/tools or parts needing to be ordered and bought, leading to more downtime for your car. A shop has all the tools and they can get parts fairly quickly...for the most part.
The good thing about your dad doing the job is, once he removes the tranny from your car, upon inspection, he'll be able to tell you if he wants to go further, lol, and if he doesn't feel comfortable with it, you can take JUST the tranny and not the entire car, to a shop. If your dad can install a clutch (the hardest part is usually removing the tranny to begin with, lol), he shouldn't have issues with putting it back in once you get it back from a shop.

 

Well the funny thing is that my dad is used to working on older cars like 80 and older. lol he doesnt know a lot about newer cars and doesnt have all the tools for metric. So I think he is not my best choice, I have a mechanic that I trust to fix it, but taking out the tranny before taking it to him does sound like a good ideal lol (save me the tow bill). Shoot I may try to tackle it myself lol. Just kidding. Thanks a billion and btw, the mod looks awesome!!!

 

Only metric? Well, that sounds like a perfect excuse...or I mean reason to buy some new tools, lol.
If your dad is used to the muscle cars and older cars, there's really nothing different about these trannys. He's really only got to worry himself with the mechanical portion and not the electrical. It's literally a matter of nuts and bolts..oh and draining the tranny fluid.

Thank you for the comment, "fast" and reliable, two words that hardly ever play well together, and daily driven. It's only as fast as the turbo and the tuning allows her to be, but still faster than what it was, lol, and by no means a slouch, just ask my EVO and WRX buddies (granted the mildly modded ones are still faster, but I'll get there) .

 

lol well one of these days, (when I get past all the problems it has now lol),I hope to get mine fixed to whereI canmake money off of driving it lol.