UPDATE - had free time at work this morning (felt kinda wierd), so I went out and began checking all of the fuses. turns out the po had fuses in unneeded slots. pulled all but the basics that I knew were valid on this truck. voila the issue went away -- not sure which one it was, but one of them apparently was causing a short of some kind. why this occurred after two yrs of ownership, I have no idea ---- oh well life with 25 yr old trucks eh?
thanks again for all the ideas -- :cheers: