misfire cylinder 2

[car17fan]

hey guys, My daughter's 99 taurus with 3.0 vulcan engine has a misfire on cylinder 2.
Some background on the car first. Bought it for her about a year ago, little to no heat, so replaced water pump, thermostat and flushed the heater core(all clogged up). After starting car up, water out of tailpipe, thought the head gasket went, but then after a while, no water or smoke from tailpipe...but car had been sitting for a few months before we bought it so, figured the gas that was in the tank was old and seperated. So the car was running fine all summer, did a tune up during the summer(plugs and wires). in the fall flushed the heater core again(heat was come and go). Now it does go through a little coolant and smells of antifreeze, but the oil looks good. So head gasket???
Now back to the misfire, I pulled the plug and it smelled like gas and was dirty. I got a new plug and put it in, the engine runs fine, firing all cylinders.
My question is, can I have a leak of coolant into the cylinder without it being a head gasket? Was it burning coolant for too long and that is what fowled up the plug?
Any help is appreciated, Steve

[shorod]

The water in the exhaust was probably exactly that, condensed water from sitting. That's nothing to be concerned with.

Are you smelling coolant currently from the exhaust, or you just smell burning coolant in the proximity of the car? If the plug on cylinder #2 was not discolored like coolant or REALLY clean, I wouldn't be too quick to suspect a head gasket or intake gasket issue. I'd be more suspect of a slight leak from a hose clamp, leaking hose, or possibly a corroded frost plug.

You might check with a local parts store to see if they have a cooling system pressure tester in the Loan-a-Tool program. If you can find a combustion tester for the cooling system locally that might be a good thing to buy/borrow as well. They generally run around $25 for the kit which will test for combustion gases in the cooling system.

-Rod

[car17fan]

Rod, thanks for the reply. The plug I pulled out was dirty and smelled like gas and the exhaust smelled like gas, so it was not firing at all. With new plug it runs fine and exhaust smells like....exhaust. The smell of coolant is around the car and a bit in the cabin. There is no puddles on the ground which leads me to believe that it was being burned in the engine, but come to think of it, since there is a smell of it in the cabin there might be a small leak in the heater core, i guess, if that is possible. The heat does work, just not that great. I thought it could be the heater core being plugged up again, I have flushed it twice. So is that possible of a small leak in the core? If so, any way to repair without replacing? There aren't any puddles in the cabin either (had that happen to me in a dodge I once had). Thanks for your help. -Steve