Was driving one night when it was raining pretty hard, went through a puddle and came out the other side and the motor chugged for a few feet and stalled out. It would try cranking but wouldn't turn over so I checked the intake and there was no evidence of water(4" lift sitting on 35's so it isn't easy getting water in there), I got it home and first thing I replaced was the CPS, no luck. Replaced the ignition coil and still nothing. Checked the wiring on the ignition relay and after wiring it back up the starter fried, got a new one and the solenoid fried after one start. Still was getting no spark off the ignition coil before the starter issue started(no pun intended). So at this point I'm not sure if something is still wet and causing a short or what -_- Year is '87, 4.0L, 5-Speed.

 

water dont cause a hard short especially at 12v. you can dunk a 120 v extension cord in a glass of water, nothing.
something stuck,dragging??

 

I pulled the plugs and checked the cylinders with a boroscope just for the peace of mind that there wasn't any water in there. I manually rotated the crank and nothing feels seized but the left side of the engine bay was wet. I pulled all the relays and checked all the connectors and sprayed them with cleaner. There doesn't appear to be water on the dipstick either so at this point I feel like I've been chasing my tail for a good time now going nowhere fast.

 

Can you be a little clearer to help us all.
What does that mean the starter fried? Smoked, got hot?
Or did the starter just quit working?
Does the starter crank now? Unclear. If so, still no spark?
Why did you 're-wire' the ignition relay?

Likely the starter issue and no spark are related somehow.
Could be a ground terminal finally gave way during that puddle crossing.
I'd check all grounds before diving into this.