There's a very common misconception, that any noise associated with the
clutch pedal is 'throw out bearing.'
Yes, if pushing the pedal done causes noise, then you think TOB.
But this guy said letting the clutch pedal up in neutral causes noise.
That, 'normally' would not be TOB.

Try this......idling in neutral, with the clutch up, listen for noise.
Then push the pedal down, if it gets quieter, the noise you are hearing has
to do with the input shaft or main shaft of the transmission.
If you really want to hear that bearing noise, press a wooden dowel to the
shift knob, and the other end to your ear  - the shift linkage often does a
nice job of bringing  those noises forward.
So please -  if clutch down gives noise - you think of TOB
If clutch pedal down  equals quiet, you think of transmission main shaft
and/ or bearings  usually.
There are exceptions to everything of course.

There has been confusion about clutch pedals, free play, and throw out
bearings forever.
But it's really very straight forward.
Scott
www.turbovans.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Yves Demers
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2007 1:36 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: transmission

 nobody went for the throw out bearing, thats where my money is. As for
rebuild or used, having just installed a rebuild,
the effort to install it isnt something that I would like to do often, so I
would ( and did ) go for the best (most expensive) option
so that another swap hopefully isnt required. P.S. do yourself a favor and
replace all the bushings and the shifter cup while your at it.
Yves

I did not mention, my 84 Vanagon broke its transmission last week.
> I heard a loud snap from the rear, like breaking an axle and I lost
> power to move forward. It was in first gear trying to move into another
> street on a right turn. I can still shift back and forth to every gear
> including reverse. But As soon as I try to let go the clutch pedal I
> can hear noise from the transmission. So the transmission is toast.
> I have one used cheap spare that I can replace. But once the engine
> and the transmission is dropped I have a decision to make between a
> real quality rebuild or a cheap one by myself. I do not need to do
> anything with the engine if I want to go the cheap route. If I want
> a quality one then it's a lot of money and the engine should take
> the opportunity to be done as well.