Dave,

You didn't mention it, but with that many miles on the clutch the fly
wheel would surely have needed refacing. Did you have the flywheel face
machined back smooth? If so, did the pilot shaft flywheel bushing that
mounts inside the flywheel get put back in - or if missing was a new one
installed??  This bushing is extremely important because it is what
holds the pilot bearing felt washer in place. Without it - the washer
will crumble away and the garbage and debris from the clutch will
destroy the pilot bearing. It is an item often missed,

John

On 4/16/2014 10:23 PM, Dave Mcneely wrote:
> Thanks to everyone who provided information and advice concerning the clutch chatter I was experiencing with my 1991 Volkswagen Vanagon GL Campmobile with manual transmission and 2.1 liter waterboxer.
>
> Thanks to Darrell Cook, whose shop in Norman, Oklahoma is listed in the Road Haus shop list, I now have a new, smooth as butter clutch.  I got the needed parts from Bus Depot.  The problem was that the main shaft seal on the transmission had failed, bathing the clutch with 90W gear oil.  The pilot bearing had also partially seized, perhaps because the felt seal had disintegrated, allowing crud into the bearing.  The van, with 174k miles, had the original clutch, at least the clutch plate and the pressure plate had VW/Audi marks on them, and Darrell said they were original.  Even so, there was some material left on the clutch plate, which was chattering mainly due to the oil on it.  The original fork (yoke, whatever) was still perfectly sound, as Darrell said it likely would be, as his experience is that this part wears little on the later model Vanagons.  While there, Darrell also installed a new flywheel seal and o-ring, which had seen better days, with some seapage, though not t
he cause of the clutch being oiled.
>
> Thanks again to everyone.
>
> mcneely
>