I bought a used 2003 350z track edition, it now has 33,000 miles on it and I think the alternator is not charging the battery. The factory warranty expired 5 months ago and it's just kinda strange that the alternator is already bad. Can someone give me some adice as to somehow check to see if it is the alternator or something else.
The service manager told me to bring it in and they will look at it and see if they can see if they can give me a "good faith warranty", he explained that even though the warranty expired he will try to check if I would be covered. I'm kinda iffy about bringing it to the dealership as I have heard so many horror stories. Please advise...

 

Take it to Autozone. I believe they can test it on the car.

 

Thank you, I will try that first thing in the morning.

 

Reminds me of when my friend's alternator belt on his Civic blew off and shredded on the way back from Moroso in the middle of no where.

Before you knew it, we had a Civic being towed with a rope by a Ford Ranger down I-95.

 

Are you sure its the alternator and not the battery? If its the stock battery thats still in there it is probably the battery. I have an 03 Touring and replaced my battery a few months ago.

 

It's not the stock battery. The battery is registering 12.3 volts when I put a volt meter on it and when I start the engine, it registers a little less than 12volts. i'm pretty sure it's not the battery, but what can I do to test to see if it is the battery?

 

I think Autozone can test both batteries and alternators.

Do you have any aftermarket audio in your Z?

 

I added a small kicker amp and an autotek 10 in the stock hole behind the driver seat.

 

It turns out it was the alternator. The mechanic opened it up to try to rebuild it and says that the "rotor was bent, usually the wiring inside or a rectifier or something goes out and can be fixed". The car is an '03 and has 33k miles on it, too bad the factory warranty expired. He says it was unusual for the rotor to get bent so he replaced my alternator today. Is it normal for the voltage meter to fluctuate up and down around 14 volts??? It seems like the car is easier to drive and accelerate now also, which is a good thing. Has anyone experienced this before?