2013 outback - remove fried amplifier

[tulsaoutback]

water , apparently from plugged sunroof drain, has fried my amplifier.  do you have to remove the passenger seat to get the amp out?

 

also, any experience with locating and clearing the drain lines from the sunroof?

[gbhrps]

tulsaoutback,

 

You may be able to get the amp out with a wrench if its bolted to the floor, or with a screwdriver bit held in a small socket on a 1/4 inch ratchet, by reaching underneath the seat.. If you don't feel you have the room, 4 bolts takes the seat from the floor. Just be sure to disconnect the seat heater, seat passenger sensor, and the yellow airbag connectors if you remove the seat entirely (shouldn't be necessary, if you block up one side of the seat to allow access to the amp).

 

The front drains go down the A pillars and empty between the bottom of the front fenders and the body of the car. With the roof open you can see the drain holes in each front corner. You can blow them free with an air compressor, or push an electrical wire (or an electrical snake) down them to clean them out.

 

The rear drains are located at the back corners of the sunroof track channel (picture where the sunroof would be when fully open and the drain will be about 4 inches further back). The drain hose from the rear corners go over the rear doors and exit through the side of the car body behind the rear wheel wells, between the car body and the side of the rear bumper cover. With the sunroof open you should be able to put an electrical snake between the sunroof and the steel roof and drop it into the channel behind the sunroof, and carefully slide it down the drain hose.

 

Keep in mind if you clean them out and still have a leak, most likely the plastic drain hose has split at its connection to the drain spout on the sunroof channel, or come disconnected. Your solution in that case is to pull the fixtures from the sides of the headliner (hand holds/ A pillar molding/sun visor/etc.) to get enough room to fix the tubing. Good Luck!