Superior German engineering? Yeah, Nah. DIY fix on old Dub engine.

Who would mount a heavy, cantilevered whirligig with further stresses from a tensioned fanbelt using only two small bolts attached to a soft alloy engine casing and expect it not to fail? VW designers, that’s who. The alternator must weigh between 5-7kg without the extra torsional forces from the fanbelt. These multiple strains are directed through the support bracket to the engine block via two stubby bolts into a single flimsy point of contact below the teetering, weighty outrigger above. No surprise then that it malfunctions. And the breakdown takes several forms.

The two short steel bolts holding the ridiculous under strength bracket react with the alloy casing and corrode, seizing inside the engine block. So, the bolts give out and break off. Because of their awkward position they are almost impossible to drill out without removing the engine. Even if you can successfully drill them out and re-tap the threads, it’s an alloy block. There’s a water jacket inside there. No thanks.

The other failure point is at the actual alternator support bracket mounts. They crack.. A functioning alternator is required to recharge the battery, supply electrical power to the distributor and keep the 12 volt system running. Kinda critical component.

A little while ago I had a squeaky, aging fanbelt and discovered some of these issues when I went to replace the belt with a new one. Oh la, my alternator seems to be held onto the engine with nylon zip ties. I kid you not. Then I came across the redundant, broken off bolts behind the original mounting bracket. Scary. So, I fabricated a new support bracket from a random chunk of angle iron I had in the shed.  I was able to bolt it to a threaded hole on an adjacent horizontal section of the engine casing. This gave some support and the zip-ties had done such a marvellous job that I reinstated fresh ones plus a rubber buffer (old inner tube) between the “floating” bracket and a cast iron water pipe below. This has worked for several months. But as a new belt beds in, it stretches and needs adjustment. Squeaky squeaky. I went to perform this operation a week or so back. When re-tortioning the belt, you use a long lever, like a crowbar for leverage. I was having little joy getting decent tension so I removed the alternator for a gander and discovered the old bracket (not my new, additional one) had a large stress crack at one of the mounting holes.

I removed it, cleaned off the paint and grease and ground out the crack on both sides to form a v-profile to fill with weld. Zap zap with the MIG welder and she’s like new. Few passes with the grinder and the bracket mounts in its dodgy reconfiguration again and seems to be working fine.

end-on view of weld

I found a forum online and one VW owner made a long support piece with threaded rod that runs from the apex of the alt across the top of the engine (with judicious bends made to avoid other components) and bolts into a panel at the rear of the engine compartment. That’s the next fix I'm going to try and hopefully it'll help prolong function.

Aside from the mechanical tomfoolery, I’ve finished the first draft of the follow-up novel to my Evin Hart book, The Corrector. Pretty excited by that and awaiting feedback from the structural editor before rewrites. This book will be published late in 2026.

Next in the pipeline is the fourth Cal Nyx novel and I have to say, I’m keen to revisit Cal. She’s so out there and very fun to write.

Lots of quail activity around home since late spring. There are numerous groupings of adults and young ‘uns sometimes with more than one adult pair. Extended families and friends seem quite common. They all arrive on their rounds each afternoon. We keep very shallow, flat water bowls full of stones for these tiny birds as they can easily drown when small.

Tui bathe right beside the open front doors in repurposed chamber pots we fill with water. So lucky to have these daily visitors.