Annoucing.....

hevster1

Vendor
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Columbia NJ
TDI
98 NB
Well it is official. New Jerseys Finest Shop is going to do weekdays!

As of Monday 8/16/10 I am officially open for business weekdays. I am working on Toyota, Scion, Lexus and of course TDI's. As of mid September I will only be available on weekends by special arrangement. Please contact me @ hevster1@yahoo.com or call 908-496-4447.
 
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jonferns

Veteran Member
Joined
May 10, 2009
Location
New Jersey
TDI
'15 Golf
For anyone considering using Mike for TDI repair work, go for it. Mikr is very knowledgeable, thorough, and professional and his prices are very reasonable. I'll continue to use him for any tdi repair work, as He already did my timing belt and clutch replacement.
 

ACHTUNG TDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2001
Location
Randolph, New Jersey ,USA
TDI
2001 Jetta GLS Sedan, Silver (sold); 2016 Jetta TSI 1.8t Sport, 5 sp, LP; 2014 BMW 328d xDrive Sport Wagon (wife's)
Mike is an excellent mechanic and thank God he is a superb VW and TDI mechanic. For me Mike has replaced timing belts, done suspension work - struts, shocks, mounts, bushing, ball joints, upgraded my clutch and flywheel, installed a boost valve and then some fun stuff like e-code installs, rear fog light install and a check temp gauge install. The work quality is excellent and the prices very reasonable.

If you have a problem with your TDI or just need routine maintenance either small like oil changes or large like a timing belt, Mike will take care of it for you.

Don't hesitate or think twice about calling him.

My parents don't have a VW but they do have a Toyota!:)

Len Lepore
 
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TDIJetta99

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 17, 2005
Location
Port Jervis, New York, USA
TDI
03... Faster than yours =]
I was telling someone about you the other day... I think his name is Kent... I'm booked up for the next week or so and I think he needed work done asap..
 

hevster1

Vendor
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Columbia NJ
TDI
98 NB
I wanted to mention it has been brought to my attention that people have not had any success getting me at the original # in my 1st post. I have changed it to another number and also included my cell # for the time being until I can figure out why the answering machine doesn't work.
 

silverstick

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2004
Location
Northern Ohio
TDI
'02 Jetta GLS (160K miles), and '05 Jetta GLS wagon (120K)
It's very much worth it to keep trying till you reach Mike. He does good work, for a good price.

And like all good auto techs, he's a problem-solver. He recently replaced the front wheel bearings on our '05 wagon, but my parts house failed to have one part when it was time to pick up the parts. So Mike had to re-use one of the old parts, and he basically rebuilt it on the spot.

He also checked the lifters and cams on the PD, and reassured me that the oil I've been using has done no damage. But he also went out of his way to find a source for a better 40-weight.

Sometimes he also makes house calls. Ask him how long it takes to drive to Illinois, for example.

(He's also pretty close to an Iron Chef. He has an amazing compressed-air trick for preparing a goose for roasting.)

Thanks, Mike. See you soon about that intake hose and a/c control.

Charles
 
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hevster1

Vendor
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Columbia NJ
TDI
98 NB
Speaking of road calls, I get a call yesterday at about 3 from my neighbor next door. He was camping in Knobels (PA campground) and on the way back blew a tire on his travel trailer. So who gets to do the road call.....me! Seems he forgot to bring the spare and had no tools to do a change. What really hurts is that he forgot to even say thank you. No I didn't charge him. I should have.
 
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hevster1

Vendor
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Columbia NJ
TDI
98 NB
I will be stocking t-belt kits by the end of September for ALH and PD models.
I do stock oil and fuel filters for ALH.
I currently stock Amsoil for the ALH and am considering bringing in Lubro-molly in 505.01 for PD's.
 

hevster1

Vendor
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Columbia NJ
TDI
98 NB
Another update.
My business line is up and running again.
908-496-4447-regular line with fax.
908-752-5379-is the cell.
Seems my all in 1 machine died and I didn't even know it.
If anyone couldn't get in touch I apologize. You should have no trouble now.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Mike, because I get calls all the time about it, are you able/willing to do BS upgrades on the BHWs? It sure would be nice for those in your area.
 

daedalus

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2005
Location
Pittstown NJ
TDI
05 Variant TDI Black w/Gray
Mike,

I just bought replacement rotors and pads, thinking I would have to do them myself. I also ordered and am waiting for +5V steel glowplugs to replace the ceramic-tipped time bombs.

Are you willing to work with user-supplied parts?
 

hevster1

Vendor
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Columbia NJ
TDI
98 NB
I often have customers source their own parts. It is not a problem. I do ask that they check to make sure everything is there; for example I have received several t-belt kits which were missing items.

Let me know when you would like to come in.
 

nnjtdi

Active member
Joined
Sep 5, 2006
Location
Northern New Jersey
TDI
06 Jetta
Mike,

I wanted to drop you a note and publicly thank you for the outstanding job you did on my car last week. Mike replaced my timing belt, water pump, tensioner, assorted rollers and accessory belt. It was a pleasure watching a Master Mechanic work on my car and to be able to ask questions and learn a few tricks of the trade.

I would recommend Mike to anybody that requires service on their WV TDI.

Thanks again!
 

TDIJetta99

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 17, 2005
Location
Port Jervis, New York, USA
TDI
03... Faster than yours =]
I get people quite often for the BS upgrades on the BHW's, but lately there haven't been many at all, maybe all the locals are done already, LOL.. I was averaging 3 a month earlier this year..

It is nice to know you can do them too since sometimes I just don't have the time for them..
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I'm thinking we need to have a thread in the B5 section for people who are able/willing to do these. Because I get calls/PMs/emails all the time from all over the place about it, and it is not always easy nor convenient for people to drive to Missouri.

If it is OK with you two, I will put your names on that list.
 

hevster1

Vendor
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Columbia NJ
TDI
98 NB
Yet another road call yesterday. At least this one was local. 99 Passat, 1.8. Blinking MIL, no power, #1 cylinder misfire. The side electrode was gone. This car belongs to a friend (daughter's car) who also owns a Jetta TDI. Her ex-boyfriend changed the plugs and coils about 5k ago. Well it seems he didn't tighten the plugs, all 4 were very loose with obvious blow by in the spark plug tube. #1 was the worst and the side electrode was gone/broken off. I replaced all 4 plugs and she drove back to college with no problems.
Moral of the story; never let an idiot work on your car! This guy also broke her l/f turn signal off when replacing the bulb.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
....
Moral of the story; never let an idiot work on your car! ...
Man, if that happened half the work I do would not be necessary... you should see this poor 2000 AEG Jetta here. Some asshat shop put some fly-by-night cylinder head on it after the timing belt was allowed to fail. Then it had a massive oil leak, and they "gave up" because "too hard to work on". Well, they forgot to put a cam seal in the head... :rolleyes: And the 2.0L crossflow engines are one of the EASIEST engines to work on in any car! :cool:

Then of course we had mangled head bolts that they reused (apperently you CAN R&R Polydrive bolts without a Polydrive socket...it ain't pretty), broke 2 of the 6 downpipe fasteners, left half the hoseclamps on coolant hoses loose, and of course filled the cooling system with green coolant that quickly turned the whole mess into a poopy-brown mucky mess. Joy!
 

hevster1

Vendor
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Columbia NJ
TDI
98 NB
Man, if that happened half the work I do would not be necessary... you should see this poor 2000 AEG Jetta here. Some asshat shop put some fly-by-night cylinder head on it after the timing belt was allowed to fail. Then it had a massive oil leak, and they "gave up" because "too hard to work on". Well, they forgot to put a cam seal in the head... :rolleyes: And the 2.0L crossflow engines are one of the EASIEST engines to work on in any car! :cool:

Then of course we had mangled head bolts that they reused (apperently you CAN R&R Polydrive bolts without a Polydrive socket...it ain't pretty), broke 2 of the 6 downpipe fasteners, left half the hoseclamps on coolant hoses loose, and of course filled the cooling system with green coolant that quickly turned the whole mess into a poopy-brown mucky mess. Joy!
I wonder if mine was related to yours?

I remember some great ones over the years including perhaps the best one of all time:
Remember the 2.5 v-6 in the generation II Camry? Did you know they made a 2.0 version of this engine in Japan? I had an 89 come in with about 100k several years ago complaining of a overheat/coolant loss and a low power issue. It showed obvious signs of being worked on recently so I asked the questions. Seems that a friend who owned a shop worked on it and replaced the head gaskets and had the heads re-done. I tore it down and found that the right bank had a head from a 2.0. The 2.0 had a much smaller intake port and the combustion chamber was also smaller. The water jackets were in a different place as well. Being as this was a Japan only head I called the customer and showed it to her. She took it to the other shop and her friend told her we were trying to pull a fast one on her. I then asked her why she didn't go back to the friend in the first place. She told me she did and he told her there was nothing wrong. She finally got him to come down and he admitted he got reman heads and gave her originals as cores. I told him he should just tell the company they f***ed up and get the correct head. He refused stating that he would injure his relationship with the company. She ended up with a used head which I set up and did a valve job on. The car ran great afterward. She sued him and won.

Another one almost as good was done by one of the techs I used to work with at my old dealership in E.Stroudsburg PA. He did a head over on a sludged 2.7 Tacoma along with the short block. He sent the head out to the local machine shop which proceeded to cut the valves. He then assembled it without even checking the valve clearance. I told him he should do it and he told me to MYOB. The next day he was fired by the service manager for insubordination. About 2 weeks later the Tacoma comes in running like sh*t. Guess what was wrong, valve clearances, some tight some loose. I ended up readjusting the valves and installing some bolts and screws he forgot as well. What a butcher. Funny thing is he is back there now.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Yep, that 2.0L is the 1VZ-FE engine, the original Toyota V6 used in some JDM cars, and I have heard that some of those had shown up in the "low mileage used engine" market from some importers, since they look identical to the 2.5L 2VZ-FE and 3.0L 3VZ-FE. And since many JDM engines did not have the "2000" or "2500" etc. on their valve cover trim, you'd never really know unless you looked at the block numbers.

There have also been some 1.5L 4 cylinders show up, the 5A-FE, which is akin to the later (mid to late '90s) 1.6L 4A-FE. And they'll bolt right in, and because of very different tuning, run like crap. :rolleyes:

We had a 1.3L carb engine sent to us once for a 1996 Civic (that had a port-injected 1.5L engine). What a fiasco that was.
 

hevster1

Vendor
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Columbia NJ
TDI
98 NB
Stay tuned, I spoke to a friend of mine and I will have a website up and running within the next few weeks. I will also attempt to have TDI club as a link.
 

hevster1

Vendor
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Columbia NJ
TDI
98 NB
I hope to have the website done within the next 2 weeks. Meanwhile I want to thank the nice people who have used my services and like the work I have done for them.

I am stocking several Amsoil products including DEO which is fine for ALH and previous engines. i have Lubro-molly 5-40 for PD's. I am also stocking Cetane additive and Stanadyne performance formula. I have been getting a few Toyota and Lexus vehicles in lately. If you own one give me a call, perhaps I can help. Dont forget, I also repair dirt bikes and ATV's.
 

Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
hey Mike!

Good deal... I am always looking for people 'in location'. This internet business has me needing mechanic/vendors all over the place. I'll add you to my list, OK?
 

hevster1

Vendor
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Columbia NJ
TDI
98 NB
Some new things;
I am now stocking Lubro-Molly High Tech Diesel 505.01 for PD's. I am also stocking Total 5w-30 507.00 for CRD's. These two along with my extensive stock of Amsoil products gives me complete coverage for VW as well as other vehicles. I am also stocking misc. Mann and OEM filters.
 

hevster1

Vendor
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Columbia NJ
TDI
98 NB
Well the website is taking longer than planned. At least my friend is working on it! I guess I shouldn't complain, it is free.
 
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