What the heck is going on?? Need Help!

Wife went to leave in our 2000 intrigue this afternoon. She said multiple lights stayed on in the dash (serv veh soon, anti-lock, brake...) anyway, she tried to travel down the road but she said it didn't know what gear to be in a few times so she said she turned right around and went home, but before she got back, she said something funny in the steering was going on, like she was loosing power steering. When she got home I asked he to pop the hood and see if she could see anything. She said there was a fluid on things and she could hear a squealing type sound.

I went home just a while ago to check things out and turned out one of the battery caps on the battery had come off and the fluid she mentioned was acid. I put the cap back on and disconnected the terminals. This battery is around a 1 year old and is a Interstate 75 month. I have no idea what caused this to happen. The alternator is the correct one for sure (I already took care of that issue a while back). Could this battery caused all the other problems she was having??

Any thoughts?

It is possible since the acid or water could have sprayed on the serpentine belt causing it to slip and then the power steering pump lost pressure due to the belt slipping. I would get a new battery since the cap may not be allowing gas to escape and that caused pressure to build up and blew the cap off. You may also want to get some acid neutralizer and spray under the hood to stop the acid from damaging everything. Flushing with large quantities of water will work but acid neutralizer is better. You may also want to change the belt due to slipping that may have glazed it over causing it to slip. Good Luck!!!

check the battery acid and make sure it comes over the top of the plates in the battery. That battery is probably still under warranty also. You can buy extra acid for ~5$ at an auto parts store.