1998 ES300 complete power loss during turn

[new_berlin]

I had a scary experience in my 1998 ES300 (about 85000 miles on it) this morning. I was stopped at a traffic light. After lights turned green, I made a right turn. In the middle of the turn, my dash lights (ABS/trac, and others) came on flickered and the engine just died. I simply couldn't move the steering at all. Managed to stop the car, halfway straddling the yellow-line dividing the road (thankfully there was no oncoming traffic in that lane.) I panicked for a second, tried starting the car but it didn't. I realized that the car was still in Drive, so I shifted into Park, and started. The car started up right away and everything seems back to normal.

Any ideas on what the problem could be and what I can do to check/fix it? Thanks for any suggestions.

[vetmx1]

I had the same thing several years back in my 95 camry xle v6.
It happened once, never again.
No idea what it was.
These are the worst problems to diagnose.
wait and see....

[NYLexSC]

Could be the sign of a dying alternator, since you said the lights flickered. A common occurrence of a failing alternator are sudden losses of power and flickering lights.

[new_berlin]

I got the charging system including alternator checked and it came out fine. During this check, i noticed that the bar holding down the battery was loose, and the battery could be easily shifted. i fixed that but wonder if that could be the culprit.

kind of scary experience that i would not want to happen again. thanks.