I have a 1997 Legacy Outback that has a weird electrical glitch. For no apparent reason it looses power and the motor dies and the tach goes crazy.  At nite the lights will stay on till the motor slows down enough the alternator quits working then everything is dead with no electrical power. Every time after a few seconds the lights come back on and the car starts and drives away like nothing ever happened.. It did this to me 3 times yesterday on a trip. twice while doing 60 mph down the road and once in the gas station. If it was a battery issue I can't see it working again without at least wiggling the posts. Has anyone ever had this problem?

Usually this is due to corrosion or loose battery terminals. Have seen this happen a few times even on terminals that "look clean". Usually it's due to a layer of corrosion that looks like metal, but it's just crud. I've had to on several occasions use a dremel with a sanding wheel to clean terminals down to bare metal because the stuff was hard like concrete.

 

I had a battery a few years ago that the post broke inside the battery and caused a similar issue, but it was only when the electrical system was loaded (lights on, fan running, brake lights, etc.).

Had cleaned the posts and replaced the terminals and everything and still had the problem and then eventually had the post pull out of the battery when I was wiggling the cables to see if one was loose somehow.

 

That's a rare situation, but double check the battery posts and terminals for cleanliness and make sure they're nice and tight.

If it has replacement terminals, remove the cable end from the terminal and make sure there is no corrosion between the cable and terminal. I see that fairly often and it can cause many problems.

Usually this is due to corrosion or loose battery terminals.

 Even if the battery had a loose connection it should still run off just

the alternator so that is not what the problem is I'm sure  It has to

loose power to the ignition for the motor to die.

Edited November 25, 20169 yr by Fish-N-Fool

A bad ground connection will kill the car regardless of alternator operating.

OK I think I have figured this out the wing nuts on the battery + posts that hold the 2 wires to it was corroded and not making a circuit so the ignition was not getting power I cleaned all the connections and it works fine. I tested this by loosening the wing nut and the car died so I'm 100% sure I got it fixed.

Edited November 25, 20169 yr by Fish-N-Fool