Date:         Thu, 4 Sep 2014 15:44:09 -0700
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Sudden clutch nothing...while parked
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

 84 van with 5sp and inline motor:   No prior indications at all, no
shifting issues, no soft brakes, nuthin!   Been driving to windsurf every
day, 100 mile round trip with plenty of hills and headwinds, a lot of
shifting, but nothing out of my normal pattern.  Everything was operating
at 100% as I reached home...
   So I park the van, slightly head up, as I normally do, on my sloped
drive, after coming in from a great day on the water,  a few days ago.   I
take my other work van to work, two days the Vanagon sits
still...again...this is not unusual...  Today I go to drive it and the
clutch pedal goes down without any feel, no hydraulics there at all.
Flacid!   Hmmm...I pop the instrument cowl and find the brake reservoir is
very low...I add almost 3 dixie cups of brake fluid before it hits the
"max" line.
   There  is no trace of leaking that I could see, on the ground where I
was parked..For diagnostics, I coast away from my shop in reverse, engine
off and when pointed downhill, I select my very low gear and muscle the
gears into place then fire the starter...Van moves out, engine starts as
normal, but in gear and nothing is slipping..
   So no clutch action, all of a sudden. When parked this happened...Normal
failure mode?   Is there a bleed proceedure, if I ran low on fluid and got
air into something...clutch master or slave?

   Thanks,    When I have had issues with the clutch in the past I have
always had some warning signs...this time, it just happened...