On a 2005 legacy outback, I use a GPS on the dash which is connected to a laptop on the passenger seat and is powered by an invertor from the cig. lighter. It draws quite a bit of current and I have used the combo for a year and more with my older 1999 subi outack with no probs. The new car, however, has a more extensive series of computers and gates to control the various functions. you know, the cute ones on the new cars which makes it a bit more delicate..
After running for 3-4 hours with no problems, the display goes blank on the audio, the control stops on the audio, several other functions, such as the windshield heaters and the heater/ac and displays also do not work. After sitting for several hours, the thing resets and everything seems to be okay, until 3-4 hours later when the whole thing starts again. The sitting for several hours b4 resetting makes me think that maybe there is a capacitor which drains b4 it can reset. If past expecience is any idication, i will receive no satisfaction from the dealer or the manufacturer to solve the problem.
I just ran the car from PA to SW FL WITHOUT running the laptop or the gps without problems. Do you think it is the GPS, sitting on the dash, which is interfering with the coding on the computer? Or is it excessive drain on the electronic system, or what. Also, the laptop has a WiIFi system. I think I detect a slight smell of "BURN" when it happens but i could be wrong.
At any rate, it is an interesting phenomenon and maybe someone else has had the same problem.
PS...if you wanna read a SUBI war story check my other post.
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