Ok so heres my problem,
I have a 04 350z base and just two days ago, the car had a weak start up, the crank was really slow but it started and I went to school, upon leaving school the crank was even slower so I got the car home and got a new battery. Once I replaced it I tried again and it still had a weak start up.
I turned it off and let it sit for a bit and tried again, this time it had a squeal noise. I stopped and tried again and all I hear it a click.

I talked to some friends about this and one person said it can be the starter, but I believe that if it was the starter it wouldn't have cranked weak like it did
Another couple friends said it was the alternator... I don't have a volt meter Nd my car wont even start to test it. What do you guys think it is??

Thanks

 

When is the last time you cleaned your ground connection from the battery to the chassis? If I were you, I would take the connection off of the chassis, hit all the surfaces with a wire brush, then reconnect nice and tight. Do the same with your positive terminal connections to the battery if you have multiple connections sharing the terminal.

This is an easy and free thing to do before you go replacing the starter. Especially if you simply replaced the battery without cleaning your connections.

Did you have the other battery tested to make sure it was bad? Is the battery you have on there now new? I know you said new battery, but sometimes people use "new" and "extra one lying around" interchangeably. Check your belt to see if it needs to be tightened while you're in there, too.

 

Don't forget, the car has a built-in volt meter on the center gauge stack. But with all due respect, you can't seriously expect us to come up with an accurate diagnosis if you don't even have something as basic as a volt meter. There are inexpensive tools you can buy to test your battery, your starter and your charging system via your ODBII port or the battery terminals. These are dedicated tools that will give you an accurate diagnosis. To be honest, a volt meter isn't going to do much to diagnose a bad starting/charging system in a modern vehicle.

RE: the squeel, check your serpentine belt for damage, check your belt tensioner pulley for play or seizure.

If you don't see any problems with those, then, pull the starter and/or alternator, take it to a parts store and have them run bench tests. Before you purchase the replacement starter or alternator, have them test the NEW part. If the readings are the same, your old part is fine. A common scam among auto part stores is they will tell you that your starter or alternator is weak when it isn't and they'll sell you a part that will operate the same as the old one, which you obviously don't need. The best way to ensure you don't get screwed is to test the old part against the new/rebuilt one.

For what it's worth, if all you're hearing is a click, then I'd start by looking at the starter solenoid. Remember, don't throw parts at your car until you perform a proper diagnosis first.

 

+2. The best thing to do is check the positive and negative connections FIRST, before you go any further. This is the easiest and best thing to start with, and won't hurt anything to start. If that doesnt correct it, you can still check the other components afterwards. Be sure to post up what the solution was so others can learn from your plight.