Brad, when this happened on my "85GL, it turned out to be the slave clutch
cylinder by the Tranny had failed. Seals went out and I lost the hydraulic
fluid. They are not expensive, and are available through a number of our
list vendors. You can install yourself, but I confess I found mine to be a
PITA and took it to a shop. I guess I am getting to old to want to crawl
around very much under my van.

Bentley and Haynes gives good pointers on how to R&R the unit and adjust it.

Luck,

John Rodgers
"88 GL Driver

Betsy Webb wrote:

> I think I have a problem with the clutch master cylinder.  Last night
> coming home from night xc ski trip the van became more and more
> difficult to shift. Finally it would not disengage when the clutch was
> pushed in.  Stop lights meant turning the van off.
>
> To me this seems like some sort of hydraulic thing like brakes.  It does
> not feel like the clutch is shot, though it may be.
>
> Can any one provide some suggestions for identifying the actual problem
> and steps that can be taken to repair such.  This occurred in colder
> weather, 0F.  After turning the van off for a while I was able to shift
> for a little bit then the problem returned.
>
> Thanks in advance for assistance.
>
> Brad
> 85 Vanagon, 4sp
> Plymouth MA