Chrysler Repair: 01 T&C 3.8 Rough running, head gasket leak, coolant loss

Question
QUESTION: On startup this morning it was like missing. Lack of power when driving. Like it's stumbling. I replace plugs with new champions. Noticed that cyl 5 and 6 are sooty black and smell of gas on plugs. I ohmed out the coil and it tested good. Ohmed out plug wires good and there only a month old. Tested fuel pressure at a constant 60psi. Map tests good. TPS tests good. ECT is 8.75K cold. Checked EGR and it's closed. Exhaust is very wet. When revving it smokes slightly black. I took good compression tests on these two cylinders also. No codes besides the ones I caused during testing the sensors. Also noticed a decrease in mpg from 20 to 16 the last few months. Any idea's on what i should do next?

ANSWER: Hi Chris,
Thanks for all that diagnostice effort and report. About all I can identify as possible causes are that the ECT resistance should be higher (particularly in the winter) when cold, in the range of 14k, which may mean that you are running too lean when starting up. The other possibility is that the 5,6 injector control driver wires are shorted to ground. Those go to pins 15,14 of the pcm plug. Also, 'wet' exhaust: does that include alot of white smoke when you starting up, which would be a sign of a head gasket leak? Any significant coolant loss noticed?
Please let me know if any of these are helpful.
Roland

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Roland, I got this issue resolved there were 2 wire's melted in the harness right behind the coil pack that lead to the injector. The wires for cyl's 5&6. Therefore both were spraying at the same time. I fixed the wire's and it runs great again.

Answer
Hi Chris,
Thanks much for that progress report and I commend your sleuthing out the problem. We'll keep it in mind for the future. A shorting like that is probably not going to be sensed as a fault code.
Please consider rating this answer (as you so kindly did the last), and if you think warranted giving me a "yes" nomination to be 'expert of the month'.
Roland