Backstory: Yesterday I drove my ex to her job in North Bergen, NJ. I absolutely hate going there because there's always construction and chaos. Anyway it's been raining heavily these past two days so I decided to do her the favor. I drop her off and as I'm going back to the street that takes me towards the highway I see the area is flooded a bit.

I freak out being that my first car suffered a similar fate (electrical problem when driving through a puddle). I couldn't turn back since the street is busy as hell so I waited until oncoming traffic slowed and jumped in the oncoming lane to get out of the deep end. My car still went through water but I'd say it was 6-8 inches.

After driving through that mess and a couple other minor ones I got on the highway and drove home. I get home and park and leave the car idling since I was making a phone call and sending a couple of text messages. I turned it off and went into my place and when I came back out about 4 hours later the car won't even turn over. I noticed before that while walking to the car I hit the unlock button on my alarm and only the rear drivers side door opened.

Symptoms:

-I don't hear the fuel pump priming at all.
-When I hit the wiper it goes really slow to the point where I feel it's going to stop midway.
-The cluster lights light up as well as the radio (radio however doesn't work)
-After replacing the battery with a good used one I turn the key and hear a CLICKING SOUND (rapid clicks).

Troubleshooting:

- Tried to disconnect the alarm from the + side terminal of the battery and disconnect as many grounds as I could find but somehow the remote still works to unlock that one door.

- Changed batteries and that gives the car a little more power as far as powering on fog lights and turning on HID headlights.

- Checked for blown fuses.

- Opened oil cap to see for signs of water (there were none).

- I did however find water in the plastic piping on the left side of the battery so I used a turkey baster to suck it out.

- I touched the cold air intake filter and it was dry.

I suspect that the alarm is somehow tied into the fuel pump relay or ignition relay and that's what's causing the car not to turn on. I assume something got wet and shorted. Could the issue stem from the fog lights getting wet? I did turn them on today and they both work and shine bright.

Pictures so you can gauge the height of the car w/ potential failures that may have occurred:

My car is lowered (bought it like that) and has fog lights as well as an aftermarket alarm system.

 

Does the check engine light illuminate when you turn the key to the on position?

 

I don't believe so.

 

It could the the alarm system, and those are a can of worms unless you know what kind it is and how it is wired into the harness. Are the fog lights wired into the alarm?

 

I have to check tomorrow. It was pouring outside while I was trying to fix the car. I'm driving this POS minivan right now until I get my other Accord from my friend. I let him borrow it until he got his new car which he already has. At this point I will probably see if I could have someone look at it but if it costs too much I'll just remove the alarm. I will trace the wires from the fogs and see where they lead. This is going to be a PITA.

What about the clicking noise when I try to turn on the car?

 

I'm not sure of this. How do I verify. I suck at anything electrical. I can pull motors and do other mechanical jobs but I stay away from this stuff.

I'm willing to learn for the sake of fixing it though so I can rid myself of this minivan I've been driving for the past 2 days.

I'm going to take my battery to Autozone today so they can test it out. Want to see if it's hopefully just a bad battery.

Any suggestions? This forum used to be pretty active when I used to use it a couple of years ago. Where did everyone move to? Nissan?