Date:         Thu, 30 Apr 1998 12:57:31 -0400
Reply-To:     thetrans <thetrans@INAME.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         thetrans <thetrans@INAME.COM>
Subject:      87 Westy Syncro clutch sticking--is it fixed??
Comments: To: vanagon@vanagon.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

First, let me say that I'm glad to be re-subscribed to the list!!

Last fall, while returning from a drive to Northern New Jersey (I live in
the Princeton, NJ area..), I glided into a stoplight in 3rd gear, braking
while holding down the clutch. When the light turned green, I went to put
the clutch in 1st, but the shifter seemed stuck and rigid (sounds like a
Vanagon on Viagra, eh??). Seriously, with traffic building up behind me, I
couldn't do anything. I was lucky to be on a downward slope, and was able
to drift and mildly clutch into a parking lot, where I called a flat bed
tow truck for the somber ride home :((

Well I didn't work on the van all winter, and now feeling the camping bug,
I decided to go out and diagnose my problem. I first suspected something
with the hydraulic clutch.. I checked the fluid level behind the dash..
full... next the lines.. no visible leaks or fluid leaking.. then the
master and slave units... appeared operational and functioning.

With a bit of muscling, I was able to feel the shift transfer from gear to
gear, though when I started the van, with the clutch released, it would
stall (clutch still engaged despite being released). I was able to get it
into reverse, and move the van (more that I could do last fall though I
really didn't try too hard).

Then, all of a sudden, instant return to normal. Clutch popped out, and I
was able to effortlessly shift from gear to gear. I spun around the
neighborhood, absolutely psyched that at least I don't think I need a new
syncro transmission!!

OK well back to the issue at hand... obviously the van didn't heal itself.
I still suspect a fault in the clutch system somewhere, either wit the
plate mechanism inside or the master/slave system outside.

Anyone else have any similar experiences?? As always.. thanks for any
advise and damned glad to be back! Given what still appears to be a
massively overinflated resale market for westy syncros, I'd like to hand on
to this bad boy as long as I can!

"Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you
look at it right"

Hunter/Garcia