Right, and if a hydraulic system has air in it, it's not that it just 'got
due' for a bleeding.
If it has air in it, it means something has worn out, or is leaking, or
needs replacing.
They will never just 'get air in the system' unless something is worn out.

Bleeding could provide a temporary solution, and verify where the actual
problem area is, and that's useful............... but if you have to bleed
it ......something is tired or worn out.
Scott
www.turbovans.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
vanagonvw
Sent: Monday, September 03, 2007 9:31 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: 84 Vanagon, will not shift into gear.

Gary Watts wrote:
> My wife hopped in the van today, rolled it back out of our parking
> space, started it up and it would not shift into any gear.   When she
> turned the motor off, she was able to get it into first gear, then
> started it up in gear and re-parked it.
>
> This is my first hydraulic clutch vehicle, so I don't even know where
> to start looking for adjusters, wear, etc.   Any help would be
> appreciated so I can get this back on the road.

Hi Gary,

Go right to the key point. Grab a flashlight, and take a look at the
clutch slave cylinder while you wife pumps the clutch pedal up and down.
The slave cylinder lives on top of the transmission. You want to watch
the push rod that comes out the bottom of it, to actuate the clutch.

You can view it through the wheel well driver's side, probably the
engine compartment, and easily from underneath, just slide a bit up
towards the trans to get a peek.

The pushrod should move about an inch or so, a bit more is better. If it
moves that inch, you have to look at the clutch as the problem. If it
barely moves, then the hydraulic line most likely has air in it, and
needs to be bled.

HTH,

John