1995 Legacy Wagon Electrical Problems

Let me preface this by saying that I'm not normally a Subaru person. I've spent the past couple of years devoted to Volkswagens and while I can usually figure things out on those, I'm a little out of luck on this loner.

For the past month, I've been running into the problem where I've been driving the loner 1995 Legacy AWD Wagon (with 160k and an automatic tranny) and I'll go over something like a speedbump and a few seconds later the car will totally short out. What I mean by this is that the power locks will switch on and switch off, the ABS lights will flash, the airbag lights will flash, check engine light will flash, and the car will turn off. Then everything will entirely shot off, and you won't be able to start it.

Usually the case is such that when I leave it for five or so minutes, you'll hear the power locks switch on and off, and then you can turn the ignition on. Sometimes the same problem will just happen again, but most of the time it'll act fine and drive fine.

Today that was not the case- I went to the same bank where I've had problems (with a speedbump on the entrance). I went into the bank and came out and started the car with no issues, but pulled onto the road and sat at a traffic light. Suddenly I heard the power locks and realized I was in for it- the car wouldn't turn back on and I had a full line of traffic waiting for me to move. Being an automatic and being suddenly confronted with a problem, I couldn't figure out what to do and in the midst of it all I jammed it into park, which probably wasn't the wisest choice. Luckily it was a four lane road and people were able to go around me, five minutes later the car came back on, but only briefly and not fast enough to get out of the intersection. I was quick enough to pop it into neutral and roll it out of the intersection, at which point I called Triple A and had myself towed.

So, here I am. My original thought was probably a little amateur- I figured there was a bad ground somewhere that, when I go over the bumps, I knock it lose causing me to lose my power and causing the car to not want to come back on. After a few minutes the car "settles" and the ground connects back on, and for some reason, that ground didn't connect back. The tow truck operator encouraged me to look at the Dizzy cap. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm supposed to get my '91 VW G60 GLi project car on the road in the next couple of days but I still need the loner for a little while longer. of course the car breaks down days before i'm going to drive it home to pick up my real car.

Thanks for reading through all this, post if you need more detail, or if you think it's too complex, let me know if it's just somethign that i should have towed to the local Subaru mechanic. Thanks.

Check the main ground on the engine that goes to the frame. If it does not have one then get some braided wire and put one from the engine block to the subpan. Also check all the wires on the battery make sure none are hanging off the post like any small wires. Check all of your fuses and rule out any lose connections on them. If the wiggle to much pull them out and use a small electrical pick to tighten up the fuse prongs. Also stop by an auto parts store and grab a small pack of electrical grease and pull the plugs off everything under the hood on major componets first and apply the grease. Hope this helps.

I seriously doubt its a ground wire, since theres many of them.

I remember someone with the exact same problem... I think it had something to do with the fuse box. The guy would push down on it and the car would come back to life again. Ill try to find the post.