Most likely your clutch disk has come = appart and a piece is jamming it.
 
Joe
----- Original Message -----
From: Don = Hundt
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: Monday, December 11, 2000 = 6:31 PM
Subject: 82 diesel clutch = problems

hi all,
hope you can help, here is my = problem. About a week ago, my clutch started making strange noises when I pushed on the = pedal. The noise was sort of a cross between grinding and squealing and would = start as soon as I put even the slightest pressure on the pedal. This = afternoon I started it, noticed no noise and thought WAHOO, the vw gremlins have = already fixed the problem for me.
I started to depress the clutch to = put the car in gear, the pedal went about halfway down and stopped. It came back up, = but still won't go any further than halfway. I was sort of thinking it = might be the t/o bearing, that would explain the noise, maybe it came apart and = is wedged someplace to keep the pedal from going all the way down? Any = ideas? between this and my Quantum with a bad head gasket I am currently = carless, so any help is greatly appreciated.
Don