K100D Super queries

Two questions:-
1) I recently got water into my K100D (in the nav keys and also the SD card) but after some gentle heat from a distant hair dryer (hand-warm) it seemed to solve the problem. However the next day I discovered that while the camera appeared to work normally, all images were offset vertically compared to how they should have been; ie a centrally-placed horizon would become shifted upward by about 25% of the picture height; similar situation for portrait although then shifted to the left.

I was concerned that there was a clonking noise when tilting the camera back/forward and assumed the sensor assembly was now floating free causing the problem.

I sent it for repairs to the official Pentax repair facility where they said they would repair it for £160 having already determined the need for a new main PCB. However they returned it a few weeks later at no charge and no repair stating that it was beyond economical repair due to fluid damage; this I found somewhat strange since it was fully functional except for the offset image.

After some debate I decided to buy a new camera; see next question.

However, being a DIY man, I would like to have a go at fixing this "old" camera myself and have managed to acquire a full 95-page dismantle/assy manual with loads of info and colour diagrams. Does anyone have any idea what I am likely to be looking for since I have now discovered (with the new camera) that the floating sensor assy "problem" is probably a red-herring.

2) Having got a new camera, in fact a really new K100D Super again (sealed in original packing) via Ebay I noticed something odd. It has Firmware ver 1.0 on-board and trying to upgrade to 1.02 it refused to play ball and just ignored any update process. I then noticed that the body carries a label saying SDHC, the precise reason I was trying to do the update in the first place (the old camera does not have this label).

Any suggestions as to why the update does not happen? It may be academic since the camera accepts a 4GB SDHC card anyway but it would be nice to know why. Was the 1.02 not relevant past a certain hardware serial number?

While probably highly irrelevant, I had a point and shoot kodak V1253 HD which got some sand into the front lens assembly and wouldnt pop out when started. Hardly worth sending into a repair shop. As you, I am an avid DIY person and have been for some time. Over the years I have accumulated quite a bit of expertise in electronics etc.

The problem I encountered was that many modern electronic devices are not built to be taken apart. In the case of the camera, it was not possible to get to the particular part, to clean out the sand without taking out quite a bit of the workings. It required desoldering connections, and I had to break a plastic part, which I thought I could superglue back together. Some of the machine solders were of such tolerances that it was impossible to resolder without "shorting" another solder point. The circuit board was sprayed, when new, with a insulating layer, which melted when heated. It just is not the same as changing ram in a computer where the old one pops out and the new one pops in.

I didnt think I would need a part, but I can imagine if I did, it would be either unavailable, or so expensive to obtain, that a repair would have been financially impractible.
Some times you have to follow the advice of Sir Paul McCartney, "Let It Be"