in case anyone is reading, i have ruled out voltage failsafe as a cause of the problem. Using the discharge feature on my ice charger i was able to drop the voltage to failsafe range while operating the servos, when this occurs the throttle servo goes into failsafe position but the steering servo remains operable and the light on the receiver remains green, neither of which happen when my problem occurs.
thank you for the suggestions btw, at least i was able to rule that out.