1999 Ford countour will not go into gear, but clutch is still good. What went wrong?

On your car you have a hydraulic clutch actuation system. That means it is much like your brake system with a master sylinder that gets atuated when you push the pedal which actuates a slave sylinder that moves the clutch to disengage it so you can shift. What has happened is either you ran out of fluid or have a leak. If you ran out of fluid you probably have a leak anyway. So, you can look under the dash at the clutch pedal and you will see the master sylinder rod attached to the pedal. Check for fluid. On the firewall inside the engine bay directly in line with the rod will be the master cylinder, check for level. If you don't have any or it is very low you have a leak. Next follow the line coming out of the master cylinder and follow it to the tranmission where it ends up attached to the slave cylinder. Check for fluid leaks there. Somewhere along the line you will see fluid leaking.
If you do not, your pressure plate has failed in your clutch.
In the case of either they will need replacement of the failed part. If you have to replace the pressure plate, get a kit that includes a new clutch disc, throwout bearing, pressure plate and pilot bearing so you can have a new clutch as the kits are not much more than a pressure plate and the labor will be at least $400.

The master cylinder, line or slave cylinder will be chaeper and you can just replace the failed component. The labor will be cheaper too. You can do it yourself if you have some mechanical knowledge and we will certainly help you.
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