if the head gasket was leaking to the extent that coolant was entering one
or more of the cylinders, a misfire would be expected, anti-freeze isnt a
great substiture for petrol, you could check which cylinder is misfiring by
removing each plug lead in turn while the engine is running, (using well
insulated pliers) the engine should drop about 200rpm on each cylinder as
the lead is removed, also check you have a good healthy spark at each plug
lead, and the plugs are in good order.
one thing you should bear in mind, esspecially on these 2ltr engines, is
that if the head gasket has failed and the engine has overheated, you may
find the cylinder head may be slightly warped in which case it would need to
be machined, (re-surfaced, or skimmed for the old boys in here) simply
replacing a head gasket on a warped head isnt good enough and it may still
leak.
expect to pay around £30 to £50 for this.

<205@freebies4me.fsnet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:3FBA3342.41D7@freebies4me.fsnet.co.uk...
> Some time ago I posted a query with regard my 220GTi loosing water. I
> never really did get solve the problem despite checking connections and
> so on.
>
> A few months back it started to misfire - usualaly at low revs and under
> acceleration. OK ticking over and once at speed but things got worse and
> it came to a halt a few weeks ago almost as if I had run out of petrol.
>
> Due to other commitments I have only just managed to get round to
> working on it and choose to give it a good overhaul including a new Head
> Gasket as I had previously changed this but used a "cheap" engine set
> and thought that may be a contributing factor to water loos perhaps. A
> slight oil leak had also developed.
>
> Nothing too obvious has jumped out as yet although there looks to be
> some water leakage on te cylnder head joint at the back near the knock
> sensor.
>
> Anyway, I'm hoping it will fire and be OK when put back (obvisouly !)
> but my problem is really why the misfires ? I haven't picked up on any
> "known" problems with the fuel system and up to the other month it has
> been pretty much perfect in this dept.
>
> Any pointers appreciated.
>