My First Hiccup, finally put this to bed after the 3rd try Options

[76-914]

When we returned from Rt66 '16 I pulled my exhaust system down for a little trimming and noticed water in the left bank muffler! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/WTF.gif) We did drive through a ton of water on that trip. Then when returning from Costco yesterday it acted as if it were starved for fuel when it stumbled during acceleration. The fuel filter was the same one that came on the engine so I ordered another one. When I looked at the filter to check which one I had I noticed the coolant level in the expansion tank/reservoir had dropped. Well, there you are. Head gasket time. Now, I'm wondering if the stumble was due in fact to the head gasket failing? Decisions; should I fix this one which presently has ~ 185K or buy a JDM replacement. After perusing the net I found a few peep's whose JDM experience was less than stellar. Apparently it is a crap shoot as to what you get and the 40-50K avg mileage is (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bs.gif) . So, for about 1K I can pick up another engine and hope I bought a good one or open this one up and hope that is all it needs since it wasn't overheated. What does the the Wasser family think?

EDIT: It's an EZ30D 6cyl

[76-914]

OK, this is what I was referring to when I said the head gaskets "kind of" looked OK.



But is this normal? This small area appears to be "DE-lamenating" compared to the rest of the gasket. And this area is dead straight above the exhaust outlet on the left head.



Carnage







Some's pic showing the condition of 3 copper "plumbing fittings" after almost 2 years 10 mo's in service. As you can see, no apparent damage from electrolysis. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)