Rebuilt Engine ~14,000mi. Wet plugs

[sousame]

Ok well i got my engine rebuilt in my 1999 camry 4cyl. by some cheap shop that is no longer in business and last week out of the blue when driving normally my car starts missing really badly. and knockin when i hit the gas. so i get it home pulled the plugs and noticed number 3 and 4 plugs had water on them.....

My question..,.. should i try some mechanic in a can? As in block sealant....im limited on funds and time. has anyone had any luck with this stuff? any particular brand better then another...
Thakns for your input!

[Luckynumber5]

Sounds like a blown head gasket. Do not use any block sealer unless you plan on actually fixing the head gasket down the road and doing a massive cooling system flush. That stuff will stop up the entire system if left in for too long.

[93celicaconv]

Right. If you are lucky, the block sealer will temporarily help your current situation for a short time until you fix it the right way - but in the mean time, you are plugging up other areas (like the radiator, heater core, deposits in the block cooling jackets, etc.), that will mean a lot of extra work to correct as well. I've used coolant sealers before and then took an engine apart. Once you see what it does, you wouldn't use it again.

Sorry to hear about your situation. But it does sound like a headgasket gave out.

[sousame]

Thanks for the input.... I dont want to half a$$ this so looks like im yanking the head off..... any adivse as to a good head gasket? Im always with the pedal to the medal high octane gas and fully synthetic oils always. While im at it any other cheap mods for some more horses while my head is off?.... since i just recently got this motor rebuilt ~14,000 miles ago I dont need to replace anything else besides the head gasket and anyother non reuseable parts right?

[93celicaconv]

Well the question I would ask is why you had such a major headgasket failure so quickly after an engine rebuild? If one knew the answer to this, then you would have an idea of what else you should do to ensure you don't blow another headgasket any time soon.

Did you have the sealing surface of the head machined flat during the last rebuild? If not, this needs to be done. Hopefully the head was checked for cracks and leaks (it might be possible the headgasket is fine, but there is a crack in the head). If any doubts, this should be done. Assuming you had the valve oil seals all replaced 14k miles ago. You will need new head bolts (never reuse old ones). And all new gaskets for things you need to disassemble.