Owners of other Subaru vehicles such as the Forester, Impreza, Legacy, XV Crosstrek, WRX, BRZ, SVX, Tribeca, Exiga, Trezia, Levorg and Baja may also find these DIY instructions to be helpful.

The 6th gen Outback is equipped with the relatively newer style of "low profile" mini blade electrical fuses.

No tools are needed to access and replace any of the fuses in the engine bay or the interior passenger compartment. A grey plastic fuse puller tool is included on front left corner of the engine bay fuse block.

The black plastic fuse box is located just behind the 12V automotive battery and in front of the shock tower.

Gently push in the release tab on the front left corner of the fuse box cover to release the retaining clip.

Then push in the release tab on the rear left corner of the fuse box cover.

Carefully pull the cover straight off the top of the fuse box.

There is also a fuse and relay location diagram inside your owner's manual.

You'll notice that there are some spare fuses attached to the underside of the cover.

Pull the tool straight out of its socket.

Pull out the top part of the hinged cover to open it.

Place the jaws of the tool over the fuse that you'd like to check or change.

To check the condition of the old fuse, hold it up to a light source.

If the thin metal bar or "strip" in the translucent plastic center of the old fuse appears to be burnt or broken, the old fuse is mostly "blown" and should be replaced with a new one of the same amperage rating (e.g. 5A, 10A, 15A, 20A).

Since new fuses are so inexpensive, you should still replace the old fuse as part of your electrical problem troubleshooting process.

Push a new low profile mini blade fuse straight into the socket.

Be sure to replace the old fuse with a new one of the same amperage rating (5A, 10A, 15A, etc).

Push the fuse puller tool back into its socket at the front left of the engine bay fuse block.

If you suspect that a relay is faulty, the simplest way to test the old relay is to simply replace it with a new one. You could also use a multimeter tool to check the old relay.

Push on the cover to secure the two retaining clips.

Double check that the cover is securely in place.

Check the electrical component that you were having issues with such as the horn, radio, power seat, power windows, interior lights, tail lights, gauges, etc.

If you are still having the same problem, there may be a shorted wire or the electrical component itself may need to be replaced.

For more, please check out all of my 2015-2018 Subaru Outback DIY Repair & Maintenance Guides.