My vehicle stalled in water at an intersection. My car will not start. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the electrical components and we drained and dried the oil pan as well as the air intake. When we turn the ingnition all we get is a clicking noise. We pulled the plugs to check for spark and there is none. Another thing is that when we towed the vehicle home, the wiring to the alternator was somehow pulled from the connector. How can I find out why my vehicle won't start?

 

Did the car die on it's own after you went through the water? Are you sure it didn't hydrolock if that's the case?

 

It completelly stalled in water. Don't think it hydrolocked as we were able to rotate the crankshaft.

 

If the alternator was disconnected, then your battery is probably deader than a doornail and that is why your car died.

 

The amount of water he is describing though, it might be more than that. Just saying. However, it still would drain the battery.

 

I was looking at the pics of dtjackten's car and noticed what looked like an ECU or some type of electronics box behind what would be the bumper cover on the driver's side.
Could that be the problem? it got wet and blew it?

 

that could do it. They are sealed pretty good but if it was submerged it would kill it. If it was dead I don't think your starter would click.

If the starter is clicking try jumping the battery, if it still does pull the starter and have it tested. Are there any check engine codes?

 

Ok... Here is the latest. Took out the starter and took to autozone to have them test it. Starter works great. We tried the auto diagnostic to see if it would give us a code, didn't give one. We replaced the wire harness to the alternator and bought a new battery. No longer makes a clicking sound (you were right the battery was dead). It still won't start. Now it makes a weird whooshing sound kind of like those plastic kazoos kids play with. Since we have not been able to figure this out on our own, my next step is to take it to a mechanic and hope that they don't charge me more than the car is worth. I appreciate everyones suggestions.

 

The "whoosing" noise is probably the noise of your starter not engaging the flywheel or "flex-plate".

The cure is a new starter.