Fuse blowing intermittently

I have a 98 Legacy Brighton wagon, 2.2L, 5 speed that I've had for about 4 years. After having the car for about a year, it blew the

15amp E/G IGN SRS Airbag fuse, causing the car to stall and not re- start until it was replaced. Another year went by and it happened again. It has slowly been happening a little more often. Lately it has been blowing every 2 weeks to a month. At first, I'd just replace the fuse and be on my way. The last 2 or 3 times it happened, it will instantly blow 4 or 5 fuses before the car will start and run. There doesn't seem to be any common thread as to why it blows. It has me and the local mechanics stumped. The nearest knowledgeable Subaru mechanic is 100 miles away. Has anyone ever had this problem? Anyone have any ideas on what to look for? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

OK, there's clearly an occasional short circuit somewhere. I don't have a Subaru, but offer the following suggestions.

The fuse is listed as E/G IGN SRS. This suggests to me that the fuse protects three items: E/G, IGN and SRS (Airbag system). IGN is clear enough, as is SRS. I don't know what E/G stands for: do you? (Engine, Environment, Entertainment, G???)

Anyway, IGN will be passing power to the ECU most likely through a relay or two, and also to the SRS controller. Since this fuse blowing is getting worse, the short is intermittant. Electrolytic caps in controller boxes are a source of unexplained sudden shorts.

Most likely scenario: Find and remove the ECU box and open the can. Have a sniff for something that smells sort of fishy. Leaking electro caps often have the top or base popped out, or you can see leaking whitish electrolyte. A bad cap on the ECU would explain why the engine won't run and why you need multiple fuses. The good news is that replacing caps is not hard, you just have to be careful in desoldering them. You might also consider locating a spare ECU from a wrecker. There are also people on the net who repair / exchange ECU's.

Less likely: You could locate the SRS controller box and disconnect it. DO NOT DISCONNECT THE AIR BAG DIRECTLY (these have yellow connectors I think) unless you want to risk setting it off via static discharge: Just disconnect the power to the controller box. I doubt it's the SRS system.

If you can identify what E/G means eg by pulling the fuse and seeing what else won't work, isolate and check these items if possible, for bad grounds or potential shorts.

Lastly, its not impossible the you have a short inside a wiring harness. These can be really hard to find until the short generates enough heat to melt something ...