How to Remove a 2001 Subaru Outback Fuel Filter
- 1). Adjust the driver’s seat as far back as it will go. Remove the two screws on the far left side of the lower panel — the panel just above your knees when driving — with a Phillips screwdriver. Remove the one screw on the bottom, right corner of the lower panel.
- 2). Pull the lower panel downward to disengage its retaining clips.
- 3). Look under the driver’s side of the dashboard and find the under-dash fuse panel. Look on the passenger’s side of the under-dash fuse panel and find the two circular relays, the lower one is the fuel pump relay.
- 4). Squeeze the locking tabs on both sides of the wiring harness plugging into the fuel pump relay and pull the wiring harness from the relay.
- 5). Start the Outback’s engine and allow it to idle until it stalls. Crank the engine — as if you are going to start it — for an additional 5 seconds to clear all of the fuel pressure from the fuel lines.
- 6). Open the Outback’s hood and find the fuel filter on the driver’s of the engine compartment, near the strut tower. Make note of the positioning of the fuel hoses on the filter. Loosen the hose clamps on both fuel hoses plugged into the top of the filter. Pull both hoses from the filter.
- 7). Loosen the screw tightening the bracket around the filter and slide the filter from the bracket. Slide a new filter into the bracket and tighten the bracket’s screw to secure the filter.
- 8). Press the fuel hoses onto their respective inlets on the fuel filter. Tighten the hose clamp on each fuel hose to secure it.
- 9). Plug the wiring harness back into the receptacle on the fuel pump relay.
- 10
Line up the clips on the rear of the lower panel with the slots in the dashboard and press upward on the panel to lock the clips in place. Tighten the three lower panel-retaining screws — two on the left and one on the right — with a Phillips screwdriver. - 11
Turn the ignition to the “Run” position, but do not start the engine, and wait about 5 seconds. Turn the ignition to the “Off” position and wait another 5 seconds. Turn the ignition back to the “Run” position without starting the engine and check the fuel lines connecting to the fuel filter for leaks. If no leaks exist, turn the ignition “Off.”
