Weird Dash Alerts issue

[Lottathought]

Hi all, 

I apologize in advance if this has been covered. I did do a search and could not find anything.

I have a 2004 ES330...approx 150k...

And I have what is proving to be a very elusive issue.

So I am driving down the road one day and the car's steering wheel locks up for a second. Fortunately I was just going straight.

At the same time, what looks to be about a half dozen alarm lights on the dash all light up. This included the VSC, check engine, bulb out, etc.

Except for the momentary lapse in steering control, the car seemed to be driving fine however.

It was later in the evening so I got it home and checked it out the next day.

I read the codes with an OBDII reader and the only code popping up was about the thermostat. The thing is, the car was not overheating. Neither the heat level on the dash rose or any physical indication that it was getting hotter than normal.

I understand that the VSC disables and another alarm kicks in automatically when another alert goes off.  I did doublecheck the gas cap...just to rule it out.

So I cleared the codes and ordered a thermostat....I am pending it to arrive now.

If the thermostat did  fail, it must have been in the open position. I am not sure how a thermostat caused all of this though.

So from the first event to the second has taken about a week. Again...driving down the road....keeping my eye on the temp until the thermostat arrives...

The car steering does not lock this time, but several alarm lights go off on the dash again. Again, I feel nothing indicating an issue beyond the dash lights. 

I happen to have the OBDII with me and pull over in order to plug it in and read the codes. Nothing...NADA...   Nothing Confirmed, Nothing Pending...no codes whatsoever. And, yes, I did a complete and in depth scan.

I start the car back up...and all the alarm lights are gone. Now keep in mind, this second event, I did not clear anything. I had nothing to clear. (Well, the lightbulb alarm is still lit...but that may not be related...will explain in a second)

So now I am wondering if I have some sort of random electrical issue. I would think that if I had a real issue, after clearing the code, it would come back. Even the thermostat code did not appear the second time.

I have searched for electrical issues and I ran across the wiring harness issue on the left trunk hinge. But every post seems to be on the LS. Does the ES suffer this issue also?

As for the lights...I am not sure if this is related or not...  I found that the 3rd break light was burned out. I replaced it and in about 1 min, that bulb blew too. I looked at the socket and I see no issues at all with it. I replaced the bulb again and this one seems to be working fine....but my bulb alert did not go out. I started scouring the car and it looks like some little bulb in the top left corner of the passenger headlight may be out...or intermittent....so I cannot say for sure that the bulb alarm is related to the events issue.

So other than the possible trunk hinge, I am at a loss on where to even look. I have just left the OBII plugged in for now. If it happens again, I am hoping to catch something.

Has anybody had an experience like this? Any suggestions?