Having horrible chugging and can't shift..

[xXRachaelFaceXx]

So my car will start chugging going up a hill which makes me think, "Duh I need to downshift!" But as soon as I push in the clutch and grab the shifter, the damn car won't shift! I reef and pull the stupid shifter but it won't go anywhere. My car chugs more and more until the engine light flashes and I slow down to around 20 mph. Then I can finally shift. What is going on here?

[Daniel]

Can you shift into gear with engine stopped? If so your clutch or it's command is probably defective and clutch disk don't disengage.

You can first try purging the clutch line at receiver under hood. Be carefull to keep brake/clutch fluid level between min/max.

[Trey05Woo]

Well the chugging sounds to me like you have a power problem with the engine, the shifting is another problem not related.

Could be the hydraulics and an easy way to check it is to put the car in gear (off) and then attempt to start the car in gear. Being very careful nothing is in under or around the car, crank it. If the car jumps forward, then you have no hydraulic pressure in the line.

[xXRachaelFaceXx]

So I can shift now.. I put dry gas in it and that stopped but the chugging is still there and is worse with more weight. Yes I can shift when the car is stopped without holding the clutch in. It seems like its whenever I try to go from really fast to slow (getting off at an exit) or to go from really slow to fast (from a light or onto the highway)