Why is my MacBook Air with minor liquid damage stuck in a boot loop?

I recently had a minor liquid spill on my macbook air (a couple splashes of soda from a nearby library goer) that landed mostly near the vents and a little bit on the keyboard. I let it dry out for 3 days upside down and opened up the case to see if there were any stray liquid puddles left behind. there are a couple sticky drops but everything is dry and nothing looks corroded.

However, when i first tried to boot up after the drying period i got no response. i did an extended smc reset with no luck and ended up unplugging the battery booting up and replugging the battery. this seemed to work and it will now boot up to the main account log in screen but when i type in my password the load bar pops up and the machine shuts down before shortly restarting. i tried going into recovery and internet recovery mode but they just load and then crash in the same way before restarting.

i also noticed that the machine won’t start up when i press the power button. it only starts up if i unplug and replug the magsafe charger. the battery itself is still charging however.

any ideas on what the issue could be? i already know apples going to try and sell me a whole new machine or have crazy repair costs and i’m a little wary of third party repair services