Sputters, lights come on the dashboard, car dies and then the steering locks up

What is your question?

I noticed a couple weeks ago that at a dead stop, for on the brake, my car jerks forward, it only happened a Couple times. It is gradually getting worse. Then twice now my car while driving has Sputtered (with a half tank of gas) then lights come on the dashboard, car dies and then the steering locks up. I have to coat to a stop out it in park and it immediately starts back up. When i put the key to the on position you can hear a hum and a click, then silence. The car tends to overheat in the summer, but when it has died the 2 times the temp was in the normal range. also I noticed this winter that my speedometer, when its cold out it goes wacky and bounces all over the place and i can hear ticking when that happens.... any ideas?

What makes this problem better or worse?

Low on gas- acts up at a quarter tank, it's hot out I've also noticed it's losing power when accelerating.

How long has your 1994 Ford Taurus had this problem?

A few weeks, car has died twice in the last 4 days tree check engine light has come in a couple times but doesn't stay on