Help Needed - Car Rough

[hodged]

I bought a 1993 GS 300 with 150K miles on it in February for $1500. Rode rough - but could tell the engine was strong. I put it straight in the shop. The replaced spark plugs, wires, rotar, distributer cap, air filter, and fuel filter. Ran smooth and strong afterwards. Drove to son's basketball game about 30 miles from home...car ran hot. Notice gurgling sound. Took to radiator shop. The said that they could not find no leaks...air pockets. They pumped air out of radiator...I replaced radiator cap with aftermarket from autozone. Car ran fine...never got hot again. Have put about 500 miles on car since then. Friday, driving and heard gurgling noise again. Open radiator to tap off with water...water came up like a volcano...but temp guage did not indicate it was hot. Water went everywhere. I replaced the cap and drove about 5 miles....car started to run rough like when I purchased it. I took off two spark plugs...noticed water in there, dryed and replaced. Ran a little better, but not much. Any ideals?

[dcfish]

I bought a 1993 GS 300 with 150K miles on it in February for $1500. Rode rough - but could tell the engine was strong. I put it straight in the shop. The replaced spark plugs, wires, rotar, distributer cap, air filter, and fuel filter. Ran smooth and strong afterwards. Drove to son's basketball game about 30 miles from home...car ran hot. Notice gurgling sound. Took to radiator shop. The said that they could not find no leaks...air pockets. They pumped air out of radiator...I replaced radiator cap with aftermarket from autozone. Car ran fine...never got hot again. Have put about 500 miles on car since then. Friday, driving and heard gurgling noise again. Open radiator to tap off with water...water came up like a volcano...but temp guage did not indicate it was hot. Water went everywhere. I replaced the cap and drove about 5 miles....car started to run rough like when I purchased it. I took off two spark plugs...noticed water in there, dryed and replaced. Ran a little better, but not much. Any ideals?

Was the thermostat ever changed ? There is no mention of it in your post.

[hodged]

I did not have thermostat changed. Radiator shop said that it appear to be working because my heater works really well. I noticed water and oil around the spark plugs.

[dglange]

Water in the cyclender chamber is a blown head gasket. You might notice your oil is little cloudy also. and may be white smoke from your exhaust if it's really bad. (burning antifreez). The cause of all this could me many things like bad fan relay or temp sending unit. Fan not comming on. Thermostat sticking or bad. Water pump... on and on. Sory for the bad new. You can have the radiator check to see if you have exhauast gas in it. That will say for sure if your in big trouble or not. Get estimates from dealer and a trust 3 party shop.