engine cease due to over heat

Yes it happens, especially vehicles with idiot lights instead of gauges, but even these new gauges are prone to give false readings. I had a customer come into my shop with a bad engine noise, after I took off the heads you could actually see the block had turned blue from overheating, when I showed him this he said the lights never came on he just knew something wasn’t right. After finding a used engine with a warranty he had me install a set of analog gauges and replace the plugged radiator. So you should check your fluid levels at a minimum of once a week.

Answer not posting

Yes, it's very possible. The coolant temperature sensor is designed to be submerged in coolant to give a reading of the coolant temperature. If you're very low on coolant and the sensor is not submerged in coolant you will not get a reading. The warning light will not come on and the gauge, if equipped, will not tell you the engine is overheating. I actually had that happen to me once. I parked my car and unbeknownst to me one of the radiator hoses burst while I was at work. After work I was driving home and the engine started knocking. No warning lights or anything came on! I immediately pulled over and shut off the engine. I discovered the burst hose and called a tow truck. The warning light never came on because of the massive loss of coolant the sensor was not reading the coolant temperature because it wasn't submerged in coolant. Some vehicles have a second sensor that screws directly into the metal engine block to sense the temperature of the actual engine metal. So if you have a large coolant loss you will still be warned of the engine overheating by the second sensor. Hope that helps! Jim