A screw has worked loose on my alternator repair and gouged the heck out of its cooling fan. I'm going to have to pull it back out and replace the screw & the fan. I can't tighten the screw temporarily because it's INSIDE the fan end plate perimeter, so no tool can get onto it without removal of the plate. BOSCH, why make life harder than it needs to be? I hate cars!!!! They deliberately aren't built for cheap, easy mantenance!!! I just hope it's not a weeks' wait & $$$ for a fan, just because it's 'special'! The screw is hard enough to get, the national nut & bolt suppliers agents stock of allen screws was inadequate last time too. I'm not expecting any improvement. I can't buy just 3 bolts of that size (4mmx110mm AFAIR) at a fair price if they aren't a stock item. The OEM philips heads are just an insult to myintelligenceas they're always too tight to get undone without cutting thru' at least one, because I haven't a complete tool range for every single different screw head I have to deal with, and the proliferation and complexity of choices of fixings is too great. It might be engineerinly ideal, but something less exacting and slightly larger and more common is better for servicability. The Krauts lost the war because they were too clever, and their equipment was too precise for ordinary folk to keep it running.

Now fixed with steel Bosch fan, nor outer fan cover plate, and a 5/8" spring washer either side of the pulley. looks beter , and will be better. All alt body screws were a bit loose, so I've done the best I can with it, and will watch more closely. The new fan has many more blades, and is a few mm smaller in Dia, so I'll have access to the screws as needed without removal next time. The impeller blades are further out from the center, but I imagine it will still pump ok.