Salt water damage, what to replace, repair tips?

Hi Everyone.

I am very thankful for this site, I have read a lot and learned a lot, but I still have some questions.

My situation is very similar to the rest. I have an iphone 4s that happened to get wet splashed with salt water (not submerged).

It was in a lifeproof case, which was tested prior to the outing, and failed to everyone's disappointment under the product's limit.

The point of entry for the water seems to be the sim side. The phone's LCD was stuck on, and would not respond to shut-down. Within an hour (before I could take it apart many hours later), the LCD shut down, and the LED remained on until complete power loss.

I have opened up and disassembled the iphone. There is only residue/corrosion evidence on the dock connector cable side (near sim), as well as near the camera connection. There is no evidence battery-side. I have cleaned the main board in 99% iso, and all the connectors.

The phone fails to power at all upon re-assembly

What would be the next step here? The options I am considering are:

1) replace dock connector (Cable and assembly)

2) replace battery (i am not convinced it is the battery)

3) disassemble again and clean again.

I don't have the money to blindly throw at the device in hopes of making it work, so any help would be appreciated!

Cheers,

Mike