A little mechanical education? I'm quite aware how the Vanagon
transmission works. :-)

The fact that the noise is still there in neutral doesn't mean a CV
still couldn't be the culprit...mechanical drag internally will still
cause the output flange to turn if the CV joint was broken.

That said, I do know of at least one person who broke one and then
another input shaft sleeve in his Syncro; turned out the needle bearing
of the input shaft was kaput. I hope it's not a new tranny you need!

Karl

David Kao wrote:
> There are two driving shafts in the transmission. You can call one
> input shaft and the other output shaft. The output shaft drives the
> ring gear and the drive shaft and CV joints. With the gears set in
> neutral the output shaft is not spinning. So the noise really can not
> be from the CV joints. It is probably a shattered sleeve on the input
> shaft that connects the main shafts in the bell housing and the main
> shaft in the gear box. Or there is something in the gear box. If it is
> the sleeve I am extremely lucky. It can be easily replaced. I have had
> a chattering clutch for many years. The sleeve may be worn badly then
> finally gave up.