My lock button doesn't work. It didn't break, it just stopped working

Question

Ok. So apparently during a workout outside, my brand new, month old iPhone 4S decides it wants to workout too. So I brought it to my workout, put it in a backpack, and set the bag down as I normally do. The dew on the grass that morning apparently casused enough condensation to trigger my litmus paper, and now my brnad new iPhone has no warranty, hence my question here. I have been searching for a week or 2 now on information for this, and can find nothing. Apple will do nothing but tellme they can replace the phone for $200 but then won't wanswer questions about the issue itself, and I seem to be the only iPhone owner in the world with this problem, so it's nowhere on the intarwebz.
So my lock button, up top, on the shoulder, stopped working. It didn't break, it didn't get stuck down, it just stopped working. Like, the screen flashed (go to wake the phone up, it didn't wake up, so I pressed the button again, and it flashed on and then off again real quick, like normally would). Hit it again, nothing. Hit the Home button, woke up. Played with phone, etc, went to put to sleep...... nothing. Hit the button multiple times, nothing. Button still clicks down and functions as the button itself should, but no sleep or wake. The button only actually does what it's supposed to do when I hard reset, or the phone is off and I'm turning it on. I can't take a screenshoot of the phone, and every now and then my phone will be just sitting on the table or wherever, and it will wake up, the "Slide to Close" bar pops up, and then 15 seconds later, goes back to bed.
Has anyone else experienced this issue, and what should I look at fixing inside? I have not taken this one apart yet as I don't have the tools anymore, waiting on them to get here, but I figure Apple has screwed me on my warranty, so I'm just going to fix it myself. Never had this specific issue before, so I'm not really sure what the **** is messed up until I can take a look inside. Any help until then would be wonderful. Sorry for the long back story, and thanks for looking.

Answer 1

Your problem is rare from the symptoms you describe. Most lose the click function, yours still has it. Yours functions sporadically or only for certain functions. Maybe it is liquid damage causing this. Maybe it will dry and be OK.
While waiting for your Pentalobe Screwdriver, try a Firmware Restore with iTunes. See if this helps. If you still decide to procede, the first step inside should be to carefully disconnect the battery at its connector. Also all the screws inside are different sizes, except for some of the Screen screws, so keep them well sorted.