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It certainly sounds like a gasket, or worse, unfortunately. Sorry we didn't know that detail before when you were describing your symptoms.
It's rare in the extreme that a head would actually crack, even more so for the block, but it happens.
As Yaofeng says, balance shafts really shouldn't affect your car's basic running condition to this extent.
Have you checked your plugs? If they look whitish or look extremely clean (and they're not brand new) then that probably indicates they're getting a nice steam bath courtesy of coolant present in your cylinder(s).
Do a search for "head gasket" in the archives and you'll no doubt find a host of methods to further test for this condition -- I'd type them up myself but I'm supposed to be working right now!
If you determine there's coolant in there, most likely you have a bad gasket; although the amount of water coming out your exhaust is much worse than I've seen. You can then take the head to a machine shop (where you will want to have it resurfaced -- no valve work necessary -- and have new valve stem seals installed) and before they perform any of this work they will clean and pressure test it. This should uncover any cracks or extraordinary leaks in the head. If it's bad, grab a replacement off any 90-93 model year 2.3 engine, or even from an earlier 2.0 if you like. Should be pretty reasonable if you're not picky.
Cracks in the block are harder to detect, but given the volume of coolant you're pushing through, might be easier to see in your case. My vote: something amiss with the head because the leakage is so profuse. Better still, just an EXTREMELY bad head gasket.
Keep us posted as you perform your tests and we'll help you through as always.
Good luck!
posted by 155.212.49...
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