if a alt. is no good will the car start. I have a 98 camry 4 cyl. I was going to put on a water pump. I took off the battery cable, but put back on for something I had to do. I think that I hit the alt. with the hot wire and it sparked. could that have caused the car not to start.

You can remove the alternator and the car will start. The only job the alternator has is to keep the battery charged. The car should start but will only run as long as the charge on the battery will sustain enough voltage to fire the plugs, run the computers, etc. I'm guessing that would be 15 minutes or so.

It sounds like you shorted one of circuits.

Have you checked ALL fuses?

Sam