1997 saturn s1 manual, driving shifted from 3rd to 2nd gear released the clutch pedal and the car barely moves even with the accelerator all the way down.

check the linkage on the end of the gear shift,

is it slipping in way that engine revs hard but car barely moves? if so take car for short drive get up to 30mph in 3rd gear on flat road and floor accelerator, if it slips now then there good chance clutch will need replaced soon, if only in first try pumping pedal firmly and frequently for a minute or so to see if the auto adjust ratchet will release some cable tension, if its an older car s reg for example some of these cars havew a manual adjustment normally at gearbox where cable fits the clutch release lever, normally its two 10mm nuts, one either side of clutch lever, for your problem i would release some tension, prob only 2-3 full turns of nut, this will allow clutch plate to correctly grip flywheel, be sure to road test once adjustment made to confirm simple and smooth selection of all other gears, also dont forget to wind other 10mm bolt up against the one you altered to prevent further unwanted adjustment to cable as over time engine vibrations could cause them to move if not locked off properly.

time has come to pay someone to pull the motor out and replace the clutch, do all the clutch components and resurface the flywheel. If the pedal is up then you do not have an actuator/hydraulic failure, your problem lies within the bellhousing. do some research for clutch kits, i have seen several on ebay for less than a hundred bucks. labor is not going to be cheap.

Try to double clutch the clutch pedal. How to double clutch; push the clutch in moving the stick to neutral, then release the clutch and then push it back in and shift into first or second gear. If it works then it is not the shift linkage and could be a clutch adjustment. First how far do you have to release the clutch pedal until the clutch plate starts to engage? If only an inch or so the clutch pedal needs to be adjusted, which is an easy fix (this is more common). The other possible problems could be the clutch plate, throwout bearing of syncros could be bad. If it is one of the previous problems double clutching should buy you some time.

Sounds like it is a clutch issue. Have the clutch plate checked or check the clutch and friction plates. I know it sounds strange but In reality we always press teh clutch all teh way in to shift. But going from 2nd to third you actually don't have to. Going from 3rd to 4th is even less of a distance. It may be a problem between the clutch and friction plates depending on when you last had them changed and adjusted.

you can check if its the clutch by puting car in 4th gear and releasing clutch pedal slowly if the pedal travels a long way out and the engine just spins then its the clutch.

Tighten clutch cable until the car would start to move when the clutch peddle is 50% depressed, Before you do that, with the clutch fully depressed and in 2nd gear, start the car and slowly let off the clutch. You may find that the clutch has to be released virtually all the way before the car moves. It should be at about that 50% I spoke about

For the key issue, try shooting some wd-40 into the tumbler, and working the key a bit. If that doesn't correct the issue, eventually you will need to replace the tumbler.

The hard shift is most likely not related to the clutch. As long as the vehicle has good acceleration, and you don't feel slipping, the clutch is fine. The issue may be related to a damaged cable, or to the linkage at the transmission itself.

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