Wobbly alternator - update

[Ralf85]

In the last week, I noticed a screech from the drive belt, when starting the engine. So, I thought let's check and adjust the alternator tension, to cure the problem. Wrong. It turns out, that one of the studs holding the alternator bracket onto the back of the engine had fallen out and the second one was about to fail as the nut had fallen off. Getting some new studs and nuts and things should be sorted soon. The lesson? Check the belt tension more often!

[CJH]

It's possible those replacement studs won't stay in long. I had the same problem - replaced the stud, and a few hundred miles later it had gone again. I had to put in a helicoil as the threaded hole was too worn, or the stud had been overtightened before.

[Ralf85]

Noted CJH. My mechanic buddy Mike popped around this morning and decided to fix it. He came back this afternoon with bolts and nuts. With the metal coolant pipe obstructing the studs it took a couple of hours to fix. However it's now done. We discovered that the only thing keeping the alternator in place was the adjuster bracket. We put a new fanbelt on too. That was close. I'm a happy bunny again!