thanks for the replies, the leak i found is slow but I did manage to get it working. Took out the old element after buying a new one and found it was in excellent condition with a little rust on it.
cleaned everything out in the burner area and put it back together, filled it with water and purged the air from the water lines, hit the switch 3 times to purge air from the gas line and has worked perfect since Tuesday so 2 more weeks and I will order a new one and replace the entire thing.
Thanks for the replies, and happy it is working. you just don't realize how good a shower feels until 4 days goes by and all you have is cold water
