I have a 2005 Nissan Maxima, and I recently replaced the alternator. It’s only been in for about 100 miles, but it’s already stopped working. Could this be caused by a leak from my power steering, which might be dripping onto the alternator and causing it to short out or fail? I’m at a bit of a loss and would like to fix it myself since hiring a mechanic isn’t really an option right now.

 

Yes oil dripping on an alternator will cause premature failure, if you have power steering fluid or motor oil dripping on it that should be rectified.

Did you toss in a reman alternator or a new one? Reman alternators can be bad out of the box and die within a few months as well, years back I was a mechanic at Napa AutoPro and over half the reman Nissan and Ford alternators we put in would come back within 6 months for a warranty replacement due to not charging lol

 

It was a rebuilt one from Oreillys is all I know, but it does have a lifetime warranty. I guess my best bet is to just take it off and have them test it and go from there.

 

If your power steering is leaking onto the alternator, it's best to take care of that when you remove the current alternator for warranty otherwise it'll just fail again eventually

 

Yes, that's what I meant take alternator off test it and then fix whatever is going on there. Not sure where it's even coming from yet, but it is the power steering fluid.