88 vert and the battery was smoking I was driving on Sunday with the top down and all of a sudden I smelled a rotten egg smell thinking " WTF !!!! did I hit something?"

Soon realized it was coming through the vents so I pull over and popped the hood and see smoke thinking "Oh F*ck " but luckily (or not) only the battery was smoking took it to Auto Zone to change the battery and realized it wasn't a bad battery but something is messing with it could it be the alternator?

when I'm driving the volts drive all the way up to 16v I'm going to be taking her to the Mazda dealership since I'm not sure but i want the forums opinions before i take her to get checked up

 

Stop driving it....you are going to screw up your ECU and sensors.

More than likely, you need a new alternator, as it contains the voltage regulator. There isn't anything else in the car that would cause your voltage to go that high. Just go get one and install it.

Also, I REPEAT, STOP DRIVING THE CAR.

 

sounds like the voltage regualor *in side the alt* is bad and will kill you're battery, lights, ecu etc real quick. pull the alt out and take it up to the zone for them to test/replace.

 

now duralast alternator or is there a better one out there

 

Duralast is fine, but keep your receipt in case it is defective.

Seems like everytime I buy a reman part, they are defective first time around, but when i swap it, they are fine. Like i said, keep your receipt.