Gents: My computer wiz is standing by me and tells me that because of
the way your messages are input to the system that many are imbeded not
sequential as I had thought. I had missed the discussion about zener
not zener, and OP says short, etc. I will try to keep up.

I don't know if the zener is shorted or not--only that 2.3 volts was
the reading across it--and it is a diode--and the circuit board lists
it as Z02 vs Dxx as for other diodes on that same board. During my
research on zeners today, the lowest voltage value I found was 3.3
volts. So at what value do you recommed I start? Seems odd to me that a
control board would use 3.3 volts to drive a relay circuit. Thoughts
please?

Do zener diodes have any markings on there cases to give any indication
of their voltage rating or wattage?