I am wondering if anyone else has heard of this problem and solution. On a 6 hour drive to Los Angeles, my 2004 Volvo XC 90 has a severe "thump" in the front end, which is then followed by a very brief (split second) internal (meaning dashboard lights, hi-fi, dome lights, etc) power failure. Initially, the power failure would last only a split second and then car would continue running as normal, and there we no error codes or check engine lights.

But on the last long drive home, the "thump" was harder than usual, and the lights internally completely went out, hazard lights could not be turned on, blinkers could not be switched on, hi-fi went out, etc (though the electric windows would work).

I pulled over, and turned the car off and restarted it, and the yellow exclamation point dashboard icon/alert lit up, and a service message flashed referring to the anti-lock brake failure, and that the SRS needed to be checked.

This problem has been occuring for a couple of months, and is very intermittent. Before this last incident, I took it into the dealership in Los Angeles, who could not figure it out,. Now that I have an error code, I have it at another dealership in Northern California, who seems equally mystified and have told me that they dont think the error code of check the SRS is going to fix the problem.

Does anyone have any helpful suggestions? The engine thump, followed by electical failure seems really weird, and when i search the internet, there doesn't seem to be anyone else that is having the same problem.

Any advice you can offer would be appreciated. Thx, Brad

I had the same thing happen to me on the 405. A loud thump, and then everything went out on the dash. Later the car started fine, and the dealership wasn't able to find any problems.

Today the windshield wipers went on all by themselves, and the radio went out. The ABS warning light cam on, just like before, and the dashboard went black. Luckily this happened as I was driving into the my driveway. After I stopped, and restarted the car, everything was fine.