Rough idle at start up, loss of power, misfires?

My car lost power on the highway and I was forced to pull over. After I turned it off it wouldn't start and my radiator was steaming. My neighborhood mechanic says I have a blown gasket. What should I do? Im worried that I might have to replace the engine When I look back on it. It had been losing power for a about a week or two before it forced me to pull over. I just started driving and don't know much about cars.

I have a 2001 Ford Taurus that runs perfectly in the winter. When spring comes and it heats up, I turn on the A/C. The A/C works great, it provides plenty of cold air. The problem is that when the A/C is on, the engine is sluggish. By sluggish I mean the car seems to lose power. It feels like the car is switching gears, but it isn't. When the car is stopped and idle, everything is fine. The problem only occurs at around 35+ mph. It is most noticeable on the highway in 5th gear. It gets so bad that I run without the A/C, because it feels like I'm going to kill the transmission or something. It can't be the transmission though, because it runs fine when the A/C is off. If it gets really hot and I need A/C, I'll turn it on while I'm going down hill and turn it off when going up hill, because the extra load on the engine when going up hill will trigger the problem.

Thanks in advance for any advice received.

Car idles fine, rev up at idle fine, when put in gear wont go past 25 mph's motor starts to bog down like its starving for fuel, wont kill or die, just wont develop speed

Just a guess, but I'm thinking catalylic converter stopped up. Used to happen on mid 60's cars when baffle got loose in muffler.

Shakes or Wobbles problem
2001 Ford Taurus 6 cyl

My car shakes and it loses power when driving. Takes a while before it will reach normal speeds on flat roads & will lose power when driving uphill. Service engine soon light has came on because of this.

2001 Ford Taurus mileage: 85,000. The engine seems to lose power when it gets hot (stop & go traffic). The cooling fan seems to turn on only when the engine is too hot. The engine hesitates as if it is not getting any fuel. It will very slowly pick up and move the car. I already changed the fuel filter, cleaned the throttle body, the automatic throttle controller (it is linked to the throttle) and sensor on the throttle body. (I think it is it a temp sensor) I don’t know if the EGR is working or if it is related to the hesitation. The vacuum hose leading to the EGR does not have vacuum present when the car is first started. I have not checked to see if vacuum is present when the engine is hot. How do I test this one? Thanks for any help you can give me. This has been happening for last two weeks. My mechanic replaced the fuel tank with pump about five weeks ago with a recycled tank The old pump had failed. How many sensors are there in this engine and what can do to check them?

Check the catalytic converter to make sure it is not “plugged” or restricted. Your car is equipped with a computer controlled engine management system. An independent auto service center can scan your computer for fault or error codes. The information should pinpoint the malfunctioning components.

Was driving down highway and car just shut off. Had it towed. Replaced alternator. Started right up. But dash lights and head lights flicker. Car warms up then dies again. Is this the battery, ignition module or what. Please help asap

2001 Ford Taurus 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic

My 2001 ford taurus has no power, it wont go over 15 mph. At an idle it is chugging and then dies

I already took out the O2 sensors and it still ran the same.

Recently purchased from local ad, so I knew I'd be turning the wrench soon. Good deal, but I digress.

The following section covers briefly, the details of the tune-up.

Car shifts fine but w/SES.

OBDII
> O2 Sensor One - Bank One - Codes read on OBDII to indicate running lean. Swapped that with what I presumed to be a defective. It worked for a week, without SES. Now it's back to a low idle w/SES.

OBDII resulted with same! Swapped the O2 again. Also, bought new spark plugs and sp wires. Installed. Engine light back on but now throwing "Coil" code. I don't recall the exact code, but coil pack was suggested by the clerk.
Now it seems that it gets little air/fuel to the engine which results in a very slow acceleration. Slow! Because if I blast the gas it will kick. Hard vibrations during idle. Series of unfortunate events.

Things I've tried:
I've tried blowing a thick cloud of smoke into a vacuum line (engine off), but no apparent leaks or the smoke wasn't thick enough.

I used CRC MAF Cleaner per instruction of the container. No change.
New air and fuel filters.

W/engine on, I systematically removed the rubber boot from each post of the coil pack, to check for arc and change of rpm. Only 2 arced and the same two were the only ones to make a significant impact on the rpm. There's also a weak backfire when the engine is under load.

So, what other than the coil pack could it be? Unseen vacuum leak? Bad fuel?

Also, why the sudden outbreak in dying parts? Bad PCM?

Thanks.