That sounds like what recently happened to me, with the pilot bearing
going out.  If you don't take care of it, chances are your transmission is
going to end up having too much play, thus causing the clutch plate to end
up rubbing against the side of the bell casing.  (Cost me $1200 to repair
-- $350 of which was the cost of a used tranny, since they couldn't locate
the parts to do a rebuild of the original one.  Getting stranded in
Dayton, OH /sucks/. :P)

Hope this helps,

-Kyle Hamilton
'85 4-speed manual watercooled Vanagon

On Sat, 12 Jun 2004, Michael Wagner wrote:

> Hi Folks -
>
> I wondered if anyone can comment on a problem I am having - I hate to go
> seek repair without some general idea of what is going on so I don't get
> ripped off. I'm thinking clutch, but since I haven't ever had one go on me
> before, I'm not sure.
>
> I have an '85 with a manual transmission.  For a while (and seems to be
> getting worse) when I am stopped at a light the van in gear and the clutch
> in, something in the rear begins to growl.  If I take it out of gear, it
> seems to be fine, and when engaged at any speed in any gear, everything is
> normal.  This "growl" only seems to happen when I'm in gear (any gear), and
> I'm standing still with the clutch in.
>
> Any comments would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.
>
> MW
>