On my 96SE I have the problem when water hits the drive belt, I loose my power steering and alternator for 3-4 seconds. The drive belt slips, I here a squeel and I get my power back.
This only happens at slow speed through large puddles of water. I believe this was fixed on later model contours.
It was scary... one day I was taking a slow turn and lost my power steering and had to arm-strong the steering to miss hitting another car.
