Thanks for the reply Lewis. The only thing that I had checked for head gasket failure was no coolant in the oil, or oil in the coolant. I get what you are saying about the possibility of it going into a cylinder directly. I had this with an older car when the head gasket went and it was leaking oil into one of the cylinders and using oil really fast and blue smoke everywhere. thought the engine was kncakered and it was the head gasket. I just thought that if it had went this way maybe it would be blowing loads of white smoke out of the exhaust. The coolant does not smell of petrol by the way, and I was not present when it overheated so I cannot say about bubbling in the expansion tank. It ran fine today when I looked at it but I only drove it for a few miles. I have a feeling that my Dad neglected checking the coolant and let it get to low, with what is probably a minor leak somewhere. But it really needs fixed. The cutting out and MIL light really concerned me, as I hate electrical bugs when you do not know the cause. But hopefully the 2 go together and it is a simple leak to find and is hopefully not head gasket related, touch wood. Thanks again.