1995 Ford Escort 4 door Wagon

Unless the new headgasket blew, there shouldn't be an excessive amount of water coming out of the tailpipe, though a certain amount of water is normal for every vehicle. Often if a headgasket blew, signs of that would be large amounts of water out the tailpipe, or exhaust would contaminate the cooling system, or the oil would attain a creamy white color. You said the vehicle was running fine a couple of days ago. Is the vehicle not running well now?

The loss of powersteering fluid might be because of a leak somewhere. Check around the steering components for any sign of leaks.

From what you describe the idle pattern seems to be normal, except for the part where the car shuts itself off. The check engine light going on and off is telling you that the computer has set a fault code. Are you able to scan the computer for those codes? They will give you a clue as to what's wrong.

One clarifying question: how much water do you estimate is coming out of the tailpipe? Is it a semi-steady drip with the occasional spurt when accelerating, or are you able to fill gallon jugs over the course of a small amount of time?

Indyuke hit it on his first post.