Velocity map imaging has been used to measure the distributions of translational energy released in the dissociation of p-difluorobenzene-Ar van der Waals complexes from the 5 1 , 3 1 , 5 2 , 3 1 5 1 , 5 3 , 3 2 , and 3 2 5 1 states. These states span 818-3317 cm −1 of vibrational energy and correspond to a range of energies above dissociation of 451-2950 cm −1 . The translational energy release ͑recoil energy͒ distributions are remarkably similar, peaking at very low energy ͑10-20 cm −1 ͒ and decaying in an exponential fashion to approach zero near 300 cm −1 . The average translational energy released is small, shows no dependence on the initial vibrational energy, and spans the range 58-72 cm −1 for the vibrational levels probed. The average value for the seven levels studied is 63 cm −1 . The low fraction of transfer to translation is qualitatively in accord with Ewing's momentum gap model ͓G. E. Ewing, Faraday Discuss. 73, 325 ͑1982͔͒. No evidence is found in the distributions for a high energy tail, although it is likely that the experiment is not sufficiently sensitive to detect a low fraction of transfer at high translational energies. The average translational energy released is lower than has been seen in comparable systems dissociating from triplet and cation states.