Major problems with '95 Escort 1.9L (electrical?)

[Rxmfn7]

Hello. I have a '95 escort, 1.9. The car has 81k miles on it, Ive owned it since it had about 50k miles on it. Has been perfectly reliable, never gave me any problems. Lately it has been acting up though. If I give it more than 1/4 throttle, it begins to buck like the car is misfiring. Seems to do it more under high-load conditions, in a higher gear. Then yesterday, the car just shut off on me while driving. I pulled over, and the it started right back up, but was idling a little rough. Also my radio was reset like the battery went dead, and my fuel and temp gauges were wound all the way out, and pointing almost straight down. I got it started back up (and all gauges returned to normal position) and drove it to where I needed to go. The stumbling under throttle was much more prominent now. I noticed that whenever I put any load on the electrical system (headlights, etc..) the car would do weird things. The door chime would come on, and airbag light would flicker. When I got there, I shut the car off. With the car off and key out, the check coolant and airbag lights are still ON on my dashboard I go to start it back up (cranks and fires up right away, as usual) but now any time I turn anything electrical on, the car will stall out. The includes even taping the brakes. But it will fire right back up, meaning the battery isnt dead.(when it restarts, the clock and everything is re-set also) The car has always been well maintained, had recent tune-up (plugs,wires, oil change, etc..) I hoping someone can help me out, cuz Im pretty clueless on this one.. Thanks alot

[Rxmfn7]

[jon_public]

i'm sorry to say, but electrical problems are hard to diagnose. start with the engine misfire and work back from that, maybe the cable to the spark plug is starting to go bad. that's what happened to mine. try and see if a local shop can run any diagnostics on it.

[Rxmfn7]

Well I went all over the car, couldnt find the problem. I had it towed to a Ford dealership .. So Ill report back with what they find..

[Rxmfn7]

Update: The short fried my battery, so I needed a new one. And they found a corroded ground strap at the ECU, which appeared to be the problem. All in all cost me $165, including the new battery. Not too bad as far as dealership prices usually go.