How to Replace Washer Pumps 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'll be removing the front washer pumps in a 2008 Subaru Outback. If you need parts for your vehicle click the link in the description and head over to 1aauto.com.

I'll open our hood. There's a hood release right here. Pull that back. Hood latch safety is right there. Pull it to the left. Then there's a prop rod right here, just stick that right there. We're going to take these clips out. There's one here. I believe there should be one there, but there might be a shield missing. There's one here, here, and here. We're going to use trim tools. We sell these at 1aauto.com. Let's get in here.

They are a bit of a struggle. I'm going to use a flat blade screwdriver just to break this free. This one's a little sticky. I'm going to pull it down just a little bit, not too far. Make sure to get underneath and pull it out.

For the sake of the video, we took the wheel off, but if you had the car on the ground, you can always turn the wheel back and forth to gain access to this. So you can do the same procedure for taking these clips out for all the clips. All right, that's all the clips. Right here there's a clip. I'll pull this clip out. Pull this inner fender well shield out, so we can gain access to the fog light.

There's a connector right here. I'm going to push down on the tab and pull the connector straight out. See, there's the tab. I'll just push down and pull it out. This part of the fender is intertwined into the bumper, so we need to pull this off just a little bit. There are clips that are pushed in right here, but before we do that, we're going to pull a clip out over here. There's going to be one right there, and we're going to get in under here with our clip tool.

Try to pry up a little bit. Do this at the same time. You can grab with your fingers up top and just pull it out a little bit just to get that out of the way. See how it clips into there? That's why you have to do it together, and you're going to grab this part of the bumper, and we're just going to pull firmly. Just like that. There's clips right there to hold it in. Don't forget to pull the clip out on this side, the same as the other side. We'll pull this back just a little bit. Get that unlocked, then grab the bumper and firmly pull out.

We're going to pull these snaps out using a flat blade tool and our trim tool, and this one too. Just pull that out. Right along here, these little clips, you can push these down, and pull out on the grille just like that. Like that. Now we're going to grab the bumper, the whole bumper should be loose now. Just pull it right out.

First we're going to take this cap off. Pull this out. Put that on the side. You want to take this clip off. Now sometimes these do not work. You can just unscrew this a little bit. You should be able to get this retainer out, and it came right out. You can pull that out a little bit.

First, we're going to disconnect the electrical connectors for the pumps. Push down and pull up, just like that. Push down on the retainer and pull up. I'm going to disconnect this. This is a little cover that goes over the pumps. I'm going to get in behind here with a little 90 pick and pull it off that clip, and then pull it aside. I'll disconnect the hoses.

Just take a 90 degree pick and work your way around the hose a little bit. So I'll pull the hose off and let that drain into a bucket. Pull the other hose off the same way. Use a 90 degree pick. Just get in there, loosen it up, and peel it off. Keep in mind which one goes where. You could mark this as the front one, and mark this as the back one. All right.

We're going to take the reservoir out now. I've got a 10 millimeter nut right here. We're going to use a 10 millimeter socket extension and a ratchet. There's a 10 millimeter bolt right here. There's another one on this side as well. We're going to take those out. Make sure when you're taking this last bolt out to support it underneath, because it's going to be loose. We're going to slide it off this stud right here, and then grab the filler neck and adjust it. It came right out.

I'm going to show you how to take these pumps out. There's a lock right here. I feel this would be very difficult to do in the car, so taking it out I believe would be a lot easier. There's a little lock tab in here that I'm going to use a 90 pick to just get underneath there, and I'll take a straight blade screwdriver and just slide up this lock, just like that. This lock will come out just like that.

What I did with the 90 degree pick is right here is where the lock would be, so you stick it right here, and then you can push up with the screwdriver to pull it up. Now to get the pump out, you can grab it right here. Take your straight blade screwdriver. Just pry up on the pump, and that's how you get the pump out.

There's a little rubber grommet in there. To get the grommet out, you can take the same screwdriver, just pry underneath, grab it with your fingers, and pull it out just like that. When you replace it, you're just going to slip this in just like that. Push it in with that slot facing down, and then take the pump and push it right back in.

We'll take our lock, we're going to slide it over the two pumps. If you push it in the back, it'll get into the grooves where it's supposed to go, and then lock it back into place. The procedure to take the pump off would be the same for the front one.

I'm going to reinstall and send that up there. Make sure that's out in the open, and then over here there's a stud right here. Get that on the stud. Take our nut, start that, and then take our 10 millimeter bolt and stick that in upfront. Then we have another 10 millimeter bolt on the backside, and I'll stick it on my socket and extension, guide it in there.

So now we'll tighten these bolts down. Snug it up. Remember it is plastic, so don't tighten it up too much. Just get it snug like another 10 degrees and then same with the last nut. Snug a little bit more.

Now we can put our hoses on. This hose goes in there and then goes on the back pump. Then this hose slides in there and that goes on the front pump. This connector goes on the pump in the front, and this one goes on the pump in the back, and then this retainer for the wires slips in there.

We're going to push this push retainer back in. Push it down. We're going to reinstall this cover. Slide this over the two hoses. Slip that in the lock there and then push right there. We're going to put this funnel in so we can put our wash fluid back in. I'll put our cap back on.

Now we're going to test it to make sure it works. The front one works, and the back one works as well. I'm going to slide this back in. Be careful on the sides. We'll get the front up here. I think these, we'll just push these in. I'm not going to push them all the way down yet, just like that and then get it lined up over here. I'll line it with up with the headlight and push it in, and then on the side, and right there. Lock that in—Same with the other side. Line it up with the headlight here, push it in. I'm going to line those tabs up in there, push that there, and push those on. Now we can push down on these, lock these in. These lock retainers back in.

Now I'm going to install the push clip right here on the sides first. Just push it in and then lock it in just like that, if you want to see. Same for the other side: pull this back, push that in there, and then lock it in. I'm going to connect our fog light like that to the bulb. Plug the connector in and do the same for the other side. Plug the connector in. Lock it in.

Now we can slide these inner fender wells back in place. This is going to slide in under here just like that and the other side too. Just going to slide this in. Underneath here it's going to slide, it goes on the outside. Push these push clips in there, another one right there, another one right here, another one right here, and then two more right here, and the last one.

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