ok so my truck is finally running again!
what happened (and still unsure why other than 4 ft of water for the wisenhimers) was that my coil went bad. the coil is inside the distributer and is not a replaceable item on its own. so a new distributer was in order. but we still weren't getting spark yet. checking the crankshaft position sensor proved fruitless (and a major pain). before all this yes we did check all the fuses, fusable links, and relays. i know more about my truck now than i ever wanted to!! so after much deliberation we ended up going with getting a new/used ECU (brain). a new one costs about $550, but wally is the man and was able to find one for $150 used.. and sure enough as soon as we plugged it in, it started right up..
we did move the brain to the left side of the glove box. so it is now about 2.5 ft higher. which is a good thing if you like to see if your X makes a good boat. the good thing about putting it to the left of the glove box(and ill put up a pic or 2 later) is that i still have a usable glove box.
now there are other challenges to face, but nothing too major..
- rip out all carpets and padding underneath (padding still wet after 3-4 weeks). clean carpets and replace padding.
- silicone and seal all connections under hood as well as the fire wall and all holes in truck body. (possibly compressed air in a foggy truck and watch for smoke coming out)
-new brakes (which were from before and i have the parts)
-PML (again have the parts just on th list)
-change all fluids and re lube (trans, oil, diff, lube points, bearings)
-and i just installed new speakers cause the old ones got waterlogged. but i think i also blew them out a while ago.. (if its too loud your too old)
-find a way to seal up the doors because alot of water comes in through the doors, fast!!!
-new tires and rims(need to find out if 4.75 or 4 inches of backspacing is too much)
the water level was up to the drivers door handle one the drivers side (wish i had a pic but was too busy getting it out quick was turning over on its own).. so the inside was over the seats. was interesting to see all the water pour out when i opened the doors. and the water in the cup holders a day or 2 later.
BUT at least it runs.
Thank you very VERY much to "Wally and Chris" for all the help/did most of it cause i had no way of getting over there.
and also a big thanks to the shop next door to doing all the electronic testing to find out what was wrong both times..
and a big thanks to "First Class Auto Body" for letting me store my truck there as well as work on it there..
this was a bit of a "P.I.T.A." but i got a lot of help from a lot of people(mostly wally cause hes the man)but it is now running. and thats a VERY good start(no pun intended).