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How to Remove Air Box Housing 2015-19 Subaru Outback

Created on: 2018-11-30

How to repair, install, fix, change or replace a broken air filter housing unit on 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 Subaru Outback

  1. step 1 :Removing the Engine Air Filter Housing
    • Unclip the airbox clip
    • Separate the housing from the air duct
    • Remove the engine air filter
    • Loosen and pry up the clips from the air duct with a flat blade screwdriver
    • Lift the air duct up and out
    • Remove the two 10mm mounting bolts from the air box
    • Lift the air box up from the plastic bushings
    • Clear any debris from the housing
    • Clean the housing with brake parts cleaner and paper towels
  2. step 2 :Installing the Engine Air Filter Housing
    • Line up and press the air box onto its bushings
    • Tighten the two 10mm bolts to the air box
    • Connect the air duct to the housing
    • Press the clips to the air duct
    • Replace the engine air filter
    • Insert the housing cover's ear tabs into the slots on the opposite cover
    • Latch the air box clips

Tools needed

  • Socket Extensions

    10mm Socket

    Ratchet

    Cloth Rags

    Brake Parts Cleaner

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

Hi, everyone. Sue from 1A Auto and today, I'm going to show you how to take the intake air dam off that goes into the airbox and mounts to the vehicle so we can take the dirt out of where the air filter sits. And 1A Auto sells the K&N air filters, so we like to show you how to do the maintenance on them. So you're going to disconnect the tabs on your airbox and just grab that. There's two plastic tabs on the Subaru that go straight down. Pull it up and your housing out, and then you can access this filter. This one's really dirty so it's a good one for us to show you.

So first thing I'm going to do is grab a flat blade screwdriver. Take these plastic tabs off. It's just a matter of twisting them. They're kind of fidgety like that. Sometimes you get a small screwdriver, you can pry up on it while you're turning it. There we go. Set that aside. Do the same to over here. Cool.

Now, we're just going to grab this area and pull forward. And that's the air intake to the air housing. There's no obstructions in there and no leaves. Just a little dust. But the housing is the one that I really want to clean and that has two mounting bolts. There's one here and one there, and it's a 10 millimeter socket.

So take this bolt out, and now you're going to have a little rubber bushing over here on an arm, there's a little metal arm right here. There's a rubber bushing on the end of that plastic tab. So I'm going to grab the housing firmly, pull up, and I'm going to weasel this up. Man. Look at all the dirt. So sometimes you have to clean the air filter housing. Also, not just the change your air filter or clean the filter. So I'm just going to go to a trash can, and I'm going to wipe the dirt out. There's a lot of grease in there. See if I can get as much of the big debris out as possible. Then all I'm going to take is some brake parts cleaner. I'm not going to spray inside that since that is the air expansion tank. I can take a clean rag and dry that, wipe it down, and reinstall it.

Now I'm ready to install it. Okay, so I've got that tab over here, the rubber bushing. That one again, so I'm just going to align it up and push it down. Pops right in it. I'll put the two mounting bolts in. Just start it by hand, make sure, and feel it catch. Definitely start both of them before you tighten one down. I'll just grab my 10 millimeter socket again with my extension to lock it down. It's a rubber bushing, so it just has to be snug. Now I can get the vent, line that up, and put it in place. Those two holes are going to line right up with those plastic body tabs. I'm just going to put them right in that, push down, and it snaps right into place.

So now I'm going to slide that filter back in. The deep pocket side goes towards the front of the car in the bucket, actually. Now, this cover has ear tabs on it on the bottom. You're going to line those up. See the little slotted hole, there? We've got one here, they run along the whole bottom of it. This filter's very cumbersome. There we go. Then the butterfly clips. I like push them right here on the expansion, they snap right down. And then you're all set.

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


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