longshot: pull the boot back on the clutch slave cylinder to check
leaks...I thought I needed a new clutch after less than 10k miles on it (my
issue was clutch studder, then I couldn't get into gear all together).

A visually inspection pasted, no obvious leaks...only when I was pulling
clutch slave cylinder did I find the leak...

good luck

Jimmy
Wilmington, NC

On Wed, Mar 15, 2017 at 12:56 PM, Cunegonde <
cunegonde.van.westfalia@gmail.com> wrote:

> Thx to all the suggestions - I'l be contacting some of you soon.
>
> The backstory:
> I had sucessfully and slowly towed a friend's 22 foot boat in the past.
> They had accompanied me with it, and had also driven Cunegonde many other
> times, also successfully.
> Unfortunately this time the boat has been in storage all winter. It did
> not occur to the owner that the boat should have been checked for cover
> water leaks, and how much water might be in the bilge.
> It turned out that the boat had about 4 tons of extra water. Concentrated
> forward near the tongue of the trailer . While attempting to move it, they
> revved the van engine very high in first gear,and used the clutch very...
> creatively. Neither my clutch nor my receiver hitch was very happy about
> any of this.
> And this, my friends, is why I need to have the clutch looked at. And why
> yet again I get a lesson about not loaning my van to anyone doesn't own one
> themselves. Even if they also own an older Volkswagen bus.
>