Forester Front Wiper Bushing Repair

Dorman Wiper Bushings #49447

When I was driving the Forester at highway speeds I noticed that the driver's side wiper was traveling over the edge of the left side of the windshield.  Additionally the wipers would not return to a low park position and often sat 2-3" above the cowl.  I could also move the wipers up and down 3-5", there was a lot of play and I was sure that this was not normal.  I found a post on the subaruforester forum that described this exact problem and with a little searching found the parts I needed to fix the problem at a local auto-supply store for 5 bucks.  The part was from Dorman (part #49447) and the wiper bushings are intended for a few models of North American cars. 

The tricky part of this job was removing the cowl and figuring out how to get the linkage out.  It turned out that this was easier than expected and in the end I didn't need to remove the wiper linkage at all, but at least I know that it is all in good shape.  I had to trim the flange off the bushing for it to fit right but it worked perfectly and my wipers have never been better.  You can watch the video for a visual explanation of how to do this.