Over heating engine.. loss of power

[pcn1]

Driving my 2011 Ford 1.6 Focus home last night. Loss of coolant, engine temp started to go up quickly, warning lights appear on dash, then engine started to lose power.

Pulled over and shut engine down. Left to go cold.

Questions :

1) Does the car sense the temp rise and shut down the power to protect itself ? (Instead of just driving until it seizes?)

2) Would this experience do any damage to the head gasket etc ?

Cheers

[steveo3002]

my mk1 2004 is capable of running on 2 alternate cylinders in an effort to prevent damage , which it has done

id guess its doing that

[GreenV8S]

pcn1 said:

1) Does the car sense the temp rise and shut down the power to protect itself ? (Instead of just driving until it seizes?)

That's common.

pcn1 said:

2) Would this experience do any damage to the head gasket etc ?

Quite possibly. If it has done, you'll know it soon enough.

[steveo3002]

[quote=pcn1

2) Would this experience do any damage to the head gasket etc ?

Cheers


[/quote]

mine did it and we pulled over on the motorway , did it again when trying to fix it

4 years later its still going , no head gasket problems, thats the idea to save the engine but i guess it wont want to do many miles like it

[pcn1]

Get the leak fixed (O rings in pipes suppling the cabin heater that have gone I suspect, apparently its common on these)

Then drive it and hope for the best !