Antifreeze coolant in spark plug tube

[drooly]

I have a '96 Camry, 2.2L 5SFE, w/160K miles. Car started running awful, noticed the #2 spark plug boot was sticking out a little, pulled it out and a good tablespoon or more of antifreeze came out with it. I think all the sub zero starts during that cold weather spell we had here in Omaha the last month perhaps made something fail. Anyway, temp was normal while driving, and oil on dipstick looks good, but antifreeze was down about a quart. Car seems to run fine for the first few minutes until the coolant builds up again and causes misfiring of the spark.

1) Is this most likely a cracked head, or just cracked head gasket, block failure, or a failure of the spark plug tube seal? I was told by Toyota service that there is no way coolant could get into the spark plug tube without a massive failure of some kind.

2) If it is a head failure, I could put in a new head from King Cylinder Heads, complete with cam & valves, but Toyota doesn't provide casting numbers on their heads and the matching head from King has a pretty generic spec to me, i.e., Camry, Solara, Celica 1994-2001. Is there a high risk of a mismatch somewhere? Any opinions on King Cylinder Heads?

3) Also since it's at 160,000 miles, is it silly to replace the head without just pulling the engine and servicing pistons also? Power seems good and no oil burning that I can tell. I have replaced a head before on a Nissan, but don't have an engine hoist to pull the engine. I was hoping to fix it properly without having to removing the engine if possible.

[carsrus]

Hmm the only way I could thing of water getting to the tube would be a cracked head. A bad headgasket woudlent cause water to get into the tubes. If a tube seal failed youd be getting oil into the tube.

If the engines otherwise fine I would just slap a new head on it. These engines are pretty tough so 160k isnt to bad.

I would definately pull the head before you order parts. Maybe a water jacket split on the block?
Never heard of water getting into the tube but it seems possible.

[Stillrunning]

Originally Posted by drooly

1) Is this most likely a cracked head,

Sounds like it. But you won't really know until you pull the head. Any water in cyl'd ?

2) matching head from King has a pretty generic ...Any opinions on King Cylinder Heads?

Also try Clearwater: http://cylinder-heads.com/

3) Also since it's at 160,000 miles, is it silly to replace the head without just pulling the engine and servicing pistons also?

No. If you have good compression and know the car I'd just do the head. Why get into something bigger if its not called for on a 160k car. I would also do timing belt, seals, water pump, maybe belts and hoses etc. while you're in there. Also send injectors out for flow test/clean. Try http://www.witchhunter.com/

[tonic]

some toyota 'specialists' don't know shi..
here is my link and that's my story:
I found a few other persons having the same issue ... but nobody figured 'why' and 'how' ...
the only thing I can tell is that we are just unlucky toyota owners ...
anyhow my head went to the machinist ... they re-surfaced, tested and head was ready to GO ... at this point I believe that they would not be able to locate a crack that is probably somewhere inside the head into those coolant passages.
Good luck my friend
proudly owner of a Toyota Motor ... proudly my ass

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