Columbus, OH. Growler, At your Service. + Feedback thread.

Y'all give this boy some business. He's good, and getting better.

If he was closer I would spread the work out between you (Bruce) and Aaron for my planned various mods and upgrades.

Although Aaron worked on my 2.0, I have to say, he is worth the drive.

My other beetle is a 2.0 AEG automatic, 2000, (Rodney) with 195k. Had Aaron do the third timing belt job. He spotted that the previous cam timing had been off by one tooth. (Previous job was in September 2006)
I also have three shot motor mounts, and a quite a few things that were only half bolted by the last mechanic.

Rodney is somewhat evil, and stripped a bolt. He kindly called a friend who drove 60 miles to tap out the bolt who I did not get to thank. (Rodney has a long and storied history of driving mechanics insane)

Aaron made sure to go over Rodney and alert me to other issues that he has due to a lot of hard mileage, and fixed some hoses that were in poor shape. He also took the time to go over a 'must check' list for my new-to-me TDI Electra.
Aaron was professional and patient despite my lateness, and diffculty of scheduling. Fees more than reasonable.
My only wish is that he had Sundays and Monday hours, as my bosses are becomming more difficult about me taking Saturdays off.
Other than that, I am very, very happy.

Rodney is running much smoother than he has in years.

kgirlbug2k said:

Rodney is somewhat evil, and stripped a bolt. He kindly called a friend who drove 60 miles to tap out the bolt who I did not get to thank. (Rodney has a long and storied history of driving mechanics insane)

Click to expand...

That was me coming to his rescue.

MOGolf said:

That was me coming to his rescue.

Click to expand...

you are good at that

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Growler notes to get a good selection of taps & dies for the garage...

Growler said:

Guess its time to officially hang out my shingle.
Growlers TDI service, At your Service.
(I do 2.0s & 1.8ts as well)
Work takes place at my home in Columbus OH Mostly on Saturdays, and Evenings during the week.
39.939450,-82.876250 is my garage.
If you need to get ahold of me, PM or Email is best. growlertdi@gmail.com
Understudied/sponged off of Paramedick and Mogolf for the past 2-3 years. Learning the proper ways, Collecting the proper tools, and picking up the tricks to working on these cars.
I am open for Timing belts, Brakes, Intake Cleanings, Vacuum lines, fluids & Filters, many other things, just ask.
I know enough to know that I don't know everything. but I do know who I can call when I have questions.
If I have l worked on your car, and you have any comments, please leave them here. good or bad. I am a big boy, I can take it
a recent fix I was involved in.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=229754
Thanks all, Appreciate the support!
Aaron

Click to expand...

Aaron, I will be in Columbus for a conference April 16 and 17 and am wondering if you could do a timing belt change (and while that's apart change out my perfectly good and working alternator) if I leave it with you on the morning of the 16th for pickup late afternoon on the 17th (I'll need to bum a ride from you to the Hyatt Capital on the 16th if that is okay. Could you check your schedule & PM me on this and with:

1. Whether you want me to provide you with the TB kit or whether you will have the kit on hand (if you want me to buy the kit let me know which vendor you prefer and kit #--- obviously it will be the 100(k) all inclusive kit either way but I want too make sure that it is on hand to avoid snafus);

2. I'll buy the alternator and pulley piece. Again there is nothing wrong with my existing alternator, but it seems practical to put a new one in while it's all apart. Is this ok with you?

3. A price for all of this.

As you know, my car is a 2003 Jetta ALH with currently 76(k) miles on it. I am aware that it has a 100(k) belt but it has been 6 years so better safe then sorry. Thanks man

PM Sent

Piling on here...

Aaron has worked on my '02 NB a couple of times - replacing a coolant temp sensor, replacing tranny fluid and replacing an oil pan.

Additionally, I have seen Growler at several GTGs working on TDIs. Here is the standout thing about Aaron:

When he is not sure, he does not plunge ahead, blindly torquing, and seeing what happens. He stops, asks for assistance from other gurus, then proceeds in a very intelligent manner. If something does not feel right to him, he stops and finds out what is amiss.

This, IMHO, is an invaluable and irreplaceable attribute in any tech - knowing when it is time to verify what is being done.

Growler also absolutely stands behind his work.

His mentors are among the most highly-regarded gurus on this board, and I have found him eager to fully explain what he is doing, what his approach is and the parts that are being used.

Aaron is, in short, good people. My NB likes him. And that is the important thing. My NB does not suffer fools lightly.

Don

It sounds like you will do well.

OH, PA TDI Guru
This past weekend (8/23/08) I was fortunate to have Aaron aka "Growler" take care of the 01 Jetta in my family. He cleaned the intake, put on a DG race pipe with egr delete kit, and installed pp764 injectors. Everything went great and the car is running fantastic.

If your looking for somebody to wrench on your TDI, I highly recommend Aaron. When he works on your car, he is very thorough, organized, precise and conscientious. He was easily accessible via email/phone and accommodating to circumstances. I would gladly bring any of the TDI's in my family to him again. Well worth the trip if your driving from Pittsburgh, Cleveland or any of the surrounding areas.




Still running great with no problems...
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=223773

Thanks Everyone. Appreciate the comments and the confidence you have in my abilities.

I will be out of town on the weekend of 1/16-19 2009. Travelling to MI For the Auto Show and to hang out with the A2TDI crew.

pm22071985, Looking forward to getting my hands on your Bug on 1/24 we'll get that TB, vac lines,and IP reseal knocked out no sweat.

Back to the garage to finish up a TB change, intake cleaning (brrrrr) and Vacuum lines after a little lunch.

Aaron

I'm far away from you... i just wanted to chime in with encouragement.

I've been to a few vw specialty shops locally and i always get different answers about things relating to my TDI. Its cool to see those TDI 'elders' pass on the knowledge to others. Growler appears to be a nice example of this.

Best of luck to you! If you were close by, i'd have my TDI to you should it need any work done!

I've also had the pleasure of dealing with Aaron too, and I have nothing but positive things to say. He was very knowledgeable and knew the answer to every question I had. While he only did a VAGCOM scan and some minor checks of the car, I would have no problem taking the car back for major mechanical work or if I needed any help.

When you get the chance, Aaron, kindly hit me up on the phone

I have added a google document to show my availability on a Calendar.

Link is in my signature, and in the first post of this thread. PM me or email to get your work scheduled. Thanks to everyone who makes this possible.

Also, I will be carrying a $325 Boraparts Deluxe ALH timing belt kit on the shelf. let me know when you request to be on the schedule to claim it.

I can also get the PD timing kit he sells if needed for $250 paid at time of service.

Aaron

Valentine's Day? Available? Won't Amanda be upset?

She is taking the other two weekends in Feb.. I will try to keep that one open, but if someone needs it, I'm available.

Got some work done on my NB this past weekend:

1.) TB kit
2.) Leaky IP swapped
3.) Vacuum lines replaced

The "growlers" are good people, and a pleasure to deal with, I've got nothing but good things to say about the experience.

Aaron is very knowledgeable, thorough, and straight forward. He spent many cold hours wrenching to get my car taken care of.

Highly recommend him and would gladly take any of the VW's in the family to him.

It was my pleasure Pat.

hopefully that 11mm pump provided a nice performance boost time to update your signature heh..

spring is around the corner, how's ye olde intake?

with ~84k on the clock, Aaron had the pleasure of dealing with this fine specimen:


fortunately, he had a brand new pressure washer. Aaron also replaced vacuum hoses until he ran out of line, so most of them are new (being a procrastinator, I haven't finished the job to this day.) I was impressed on the test drive, and the VCDS results agreed. from reading the forums, I had expected to get a CEL after the cleaning. I got no CEL and had an uneventful ride home, except for generator light coming on! (unrelated issue, I now suspect my car was then trying to let me know that the alternator pulley could/would fail within the next ~30k miles: it did!)

during the, otherwise, uneventful ride I did see some sights. one I know TDIClub would enjoy, Aaron especially:

GOT GAS? "ummm, no?"

much better!

other sights worth noting:

DIEZL POWAH

thank you, Ohio!

sweet home, Chicago

now that I'm way off topic, back to the point. here is the current status:


I'm guessing this is just a "light dusting," ~4mm of buildup after ~35k miles

I can't remember, is your EGR system still intact?

this just proved that the ULSD isnt helping much.. that seems like a lot of buildup for such a short time.

wanna schedule another trip out this way? I Have plenty of vacuum lines now.. check my calendar in my signature for availability. We can make sure that gravity gets the best of your EGR system as well if you like...

Thanks for the post!

Aaron

Growler said:

I can't remember, is your EGR system still intact?

Click to expand...

yes. however, duty cycle adaptation is/has been 33768. I had the TB job done shortly after your work, at which time the adaptation was done. shortly after the TB job, the EGR developed the famous weeping breather hole. I'm wondering if the adaptation was a factor in the leak starting? probably not

due to these unknown/inconsistent variables, I would say this is not yet the proof against ULSD many of us are looking for. also, IIRC, we (you) did not clean the EGR cooler or flexpipe. that may or may not have been a significant factor for the amount of soot I am seeing now. I am wondering if we had cleaned everything, would I see the same or less buildup now? probably the same

also, with this weeping breather hole, I believe the intake has a small boost leak. I suppose it's possible that with a non-leaking EGR I would have less buildup, no? also important to note that the valve does hold vacuum, so it is working "properly" if you don't consider the leak. my logic here is that small boost leak = increased soot. I could be wrong, but it would be interesting to see what others think about that

I have a DGRP patiently waiting for install on the work bench. I do not want to install it before I can smooth out my MAF and MAP graphs in VCDS. once the graphs look better and everything else is working properly, I will go ahead with the mod. my plan is to run the DGRP during the majority of the year, and swap back to EGR during the winter to allow for warm(er) operating temps

first order of business is the air filter which is at >20k. if I don't see any changes in VCDS after the air filter change, I have a spare MAF which I will swap. I don't believe my factory MAF is bad, but it is a possibility. if I am still not seeing what I want in VCDS, it looks like I'm troubleshooting a sticky VNT actuator

that's enough about that! not on topic for this thread

the cooler and flexpipes never need cleaning because the soot that goes thru them is dry and doesnt stick like the buildup in the intake. at most they could get blown out with an air gun and make a nasty EGR soot cloud in the shop where they get blown out.

yes, the leaky EGR weep hole is a very slight boost leak, but probably not enough to show up on a vag log. the oil/pressure is getting around the seal for the EGR valve shaft up to the diaphragm that is still holding vacuum.

the buildup would still be there regardless of the leaky weep hole IMHO.

It’s been many months since Aaron worked on my Golf, but I just now found this thread. I want to leave my praises for Aaron (albeit late)

Aaron helped me (actually I barely helped him) install shocks/springs and front-end components at a GTG at Micah’s house in Columbus last October.

Aaron is a very kind and professional technician. As he mentioned, he (we all) had many expert mechanics/enthusiasts around the garage that day. I now know MOGolf and Paramidick and of course Lilzeus who hosted everything. Even though I subjected my GF to an entire day of wrenching, she was very happy with the results and the absence of clanging and banging in the old shocks!

At the end of the long day, I had to leave quickly to return home to my patient dog that was inside all day, 2.5 hours away in Cleveland! (I think MoGolf was about ready to hook up a VAG-COMM as I sped out of the drive and back to Cleveland!)

Aaron is a stand up guy and well worth the drive to see him. I feel very confident he can handle any task after watching him fix my Golf. Plus he is not afraid to reach out and ask experts for the few things he does not know.

Aaron is also very gracious. With times being tough for many of us, he understood that I did not have much $ to pay him HALF of what he deserved! Later, after I returned home and collected another paycheck, I sent him some $ via PayPal. It’s my fault for not knowing how VW GTG’s work and not knowing that Aaron is a vendor here at TDIclub.

Aaron, I feel that I owe you more cabbage for your service. I will be sending more money via PP. Thanks again Aaron!

Wanted to take the time to thank Growler for changing out my TB. He really did go out of his way to accomodate my schedule. I was also worried that the Kneck snapping acceleration of my 90hp stock Jetta was more than he could handle, but alas he did. Thanks Aaron.

Was a pleasure my friend. don't be a stranger. we need to get our boys together for some star wars time.

Hey!












Dude!

What Frank>?

I just got back from Growler, and I'm very impressed. I had an oil change (old mech never used synth), coolant flush (old mech used the green not pink G12), timing adjustment, turbo diag, and general advice.

He was great to work with, very understanding, and genuinely interested in the health of my car.

I would highly recommend him to anyone else. I will be seeing him much more in the future.