How To Replace Front Outside Door Handle 2004-09 Subaru Outback

Hi, I’m Mike from 1A Auto. We’ve been selling auto parts for over 30 years!

In this video we will be removing and installing an outside door handle in a 2008 Subaru Outback. We'll start by opening the door. First we're going to take this little trim piece off. You can use a flat blade tool carefully behind the panel. Pull it, and then you can use your fingers and pull it back. It's just three little clips. Next, we're going to take this trim piece off here with a flat blade tool. The little area to put your screwdriver, push down and pull it out. Clips on the back. Next we're going to take this trim piece off. You're going to pry it down right here with a flat blade tool, being careful not to damage any of the surfaces. You're going to pull it out. This is difficult to come out. There is clips, retainers that hold it in.

We're going to start with a Phillips head screwdriver. We have three screws, one there, one here, and then one up here. Next we're going to use a door panel trim tool. We sell these at 1aauto.com. Go in behind and pop off the clips. Then you just lift and pull back. On the inside we're going to pull the inner door latch and lock mechanism off. We have to pull this cover up. We have to disconnect these cables. You're going to pull out and then you're going to pull up. A little ball will come up. And then the same with this one. Next we have to disconnect our connector for the window switches. You're going to push this little tab here and pull it down. Then we're going to disconnect our door light. Push down on this tab and it's going to pull right out.

Use a Phillips head screwdriver to take this speaker off. Disconnect it at the connector right here. Push on the lock. Disconnect this speaker too. Push on the lock, pull that out. It's a Phillips head screwdriver. Pull this speaker out. Hold the speaker while you pull the last bolt out. I'm going to pull these off with a trim tool.

All right, we're going to use a razor blade and cut some of this to pull it back. It's very sticky. You want to peel this back all the way around. Pull these cables through and all the wires through. There we go. Set this aside. Going to pop off this lock rod. This little latch, you have to push back for the rod, and then it slides right out. You're going to pop this lock off that holds that rod on. I think it popped. Then if you push the rod out. There we go. We've got a 10mm bolt that we need to get out. We're going to use a 10mm socket, extension and a ratchet.

Next is a bolt that goes through on the top part of this door handle. The hard thing is the window glass is in the way. So we're going to use a 10mm ratchet wrench and just barely fit it in there. You can use a regular wrench, it will just take you some time. Now we get that out. This bolt is really hard to get to because of that glass. So there's a metal piece in the back here. Pull it back and it'll come dislodged. We can pull that out of our way. Pull our door lock out of the way.

Grab the handle and pull it up from the outside. So to get this out, you're going to have your hand on the outside of the handle holding up on it. Then there's these two tabs, one of ours is broken on here. What you can do is take your flat blade tool, just give it a little bit of pressure while lifting up on the outside. It'll pop out. We're going to install it from the front and go up on the top and push down on the bottom. We're going to put this bracket on. Get lined up with the bolt holes. Now we're just going to put the back bolt in, the one closest to the vehicle. Install the locks on it. Alright, we're going to push the lock cylinder down holding it from the outside. On this back bolt here, we managed to get a 10mm on with a swivel socket. It's really difficult to get to this bolt, so we're just trying to snug it down a little bit. And then we'll go in with a wrench after this. Snugging it up with a ratchet wrench.

Now for the front bolt, we'll just tighten it down with our 10mm ratchet. Alright, we're going to fish this in here. Not very easily. Oh, I gotta come down. Alright, so that rod goes on there. There we go. Green one's locked in. Next we're going to do it on the lock cylinder. Push the rod on, push down on the rod. We'll test it. That works. And we'll test the key. It locks. It unlocks. Good to go. Now we're going to put the vapor barrier on. This black stuff gets all over the place so be careful. Get it set on the top first and then like that. These wires are going to slide through over here. This wire will slide through here. Let's see. This one goes here. That one goes right there. Push it all the way around.

Now we're going to reinstall the speaker. Put the connector on, line it up, take our Phillips head screws, and snug them down. Now, we're going to go back in, send this cable in first. We're stuck on something, there we go. Make sure this lines up. Take our screws, Phillips head screws. We'll get this cable back in this bracket like that. We're going to go right here and get the cable.

Stick the cable in the lock and we'll push it down into that bracket, and then we'll lock the cable. There we go. Cable, stick the cable in the lock and we'll push it down into that bracket, and then we'll lock the cable. There we go.

Now we're going to reinstall. We're going to start with the cables. You're going to start with the small one. This one's actually the lock. Get that ball in and then through this slot. We're going to slide that through the slot. Then we're going to take this other ball, this is for the handle part, put it in that hole. Slide this down that slot. Sometimes you got to wiggle it a little bit. Then you put the cover down.

Next, we're going to take that connector to the window switch and we're going to slide it in, lock it in. You're going to slide this groove up top near the window first. Push it down, and line these clips in. Give it a little push. Next we're going to insert these Phillips head screws with our Phillips head screwdriver. And the next one. And the last one. Next, we're going to put this trim piece on. Line it up down below. Just push. Next we're going to install this trim piece. Get it lined up, and push so it locks in place.

Thanks for watching. Visit us at 1AAuto.com for quality auto parts, fast and free shipping, and the best customer service in the industry.

How To Replace Front Outside Door Handle 2004-09 Subaru Outback

step 1 :Removing the Door Panel

step 2 :Removing the Speaker

step 3 :Removing the Exterior Door Handle

step 4 :Installing the Exterior Door Handle

step 5 :Installing the Speaker

step 6 :Installing the Door Panel

Tools needed

Power Windows Not Working Check for Broken Wires

How To Replace Front Outside Door Handle 2004-09 Subaru Outback

step 1 :Removing the Door Panel 0:25

step 2 :Removing the Speaker 3:38

step 3 :Removing the Exterior Door Handle 4:42

step 4 :Installing the Exterior Door Handle 8:33

step 5 :Installing the Speaker 13:16

step 6 :Installing the Door Panel 14:51

Tools needed

Power Windows Not Working Check for Broken Wires

step 1 :Removing the Door Panel

step 2 :Removing the Speaker

step 3 :Removing the Exterior Door Handle

step 4 :Installing the Exterior Door Handle

step 5 :Installing the Speaker

step 6 :Installing the Door Panel