Hopefully somebody has some insight into this...

Today, I was pulling away from a stoplight and shifted from 1st to 2nd
and heard and felt a small clunk from the back of the van. I let out the
clutch and NOTHING....nothing engaged at all.

I tried 1st again and nothing there either, so I pulled over on the side.
I thought about it, tried 1st and 2nd a couple more times and noticed
that my shift lever seemed to move more easily. It still moved the full
range, but I could put it into first or second without putting the clutch
in (engine running).

So I tried third, and that worked fine and I managed to make it back home
using third a 4th. Reverse works as well.

The only thing that is kind of weird is that I was checking my CV's today
(left one clunking), checked the inner one and it seemed fine, but
decided to check the outer one later. Everything looks fine (I dont'
think I messed anything up) there. Is this just a coincidence or could I
have done something that would have made me lose 1st and 2nd by messing
with my left inner CV?

Does anybody have a clue what might have happened? This is an '85 vanagon
with 210,000 miles. I put in a used tranny 1 year ago that had about
90,000 on it.

Any guesses would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Aaron Robinson
Silverdale, WA