Crawled underneath today to change the oil on my V70. The plug head was pretty rounded off. Put the socket on and tapped it with a hammer to get a good fit, and when I cranked on it the head completely rounded. Tried a pipe wrench, even more rounded, vise-grips as tight as I can possibly get them, more rounded. Everything I've tried only rounds it off more. Anyone had any experience with this? I'm thinking about grinding the head into a square and trying the pipe wrench again. Think putting a torch to it would help? it was last changed at Valvoline Instant Oil Change, and I've mangled the plug so bad I don't dare let them touch it.

 

I've had good success removing bolts with rounded heads using these bolt extractors from Sears.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00952061000P

 

Thanks for the tip! I'm skeptical about them due to the condition of my bolt head and the following review:

"I bought this set to remove an over-tightened oil drain plug which had been rounded by a wrench and vise-grips. Even after hammering on these extracters they just spun off when trying to remove the drain plug. It might work for a mildly rounded bolt but it is not up to the task of handling severely rounded bolts. I had to resort to a drill and the 10-piece screw extractor set which worked flawlessly and was very easy to use."


This guys situation sounds like mine. I tried a 6-point socket first, then a pipe wrench, then a vice-grips. I might just have to take a grinder to it and cut two flat sides into it and pipewrench it again. Even tried hitting the head of the bolt a few times with a hammer to loosen things up. It's been soaked in PB Blaster since I started trying. Drilling it out and using a screw extractor may be my last resort.

 

That is a pain we have had that happen and had to give it a few shots with an air chisel.

 

I used a large EZ-Out on mine. Make sure you drill straight into the center of the plug and be prepared for the oil to run out.

 

Finally got the plug out. went to sears this morning and picked up the bolt-out set suggested by "FirstV70Volvo" (THANKS!!) and a small cold chisel as well. Tried the #10 bolt out as suggested by the kit, no go, just ate it up more. Put the #9 on there and pounded it on, first time it spun off, but I tried again and it popped right off. Guess what, no rubber washer, no copper seal, NOTHING. As I said, I just purchased the car a month ago, and the last oil change was at Valvoline Instant Oil Change. You would have thought they would have replaced the plug at that time, as it was so bad I'm surprised they got it tight to begin with (could be why it's rounded from the start).

On a side note: At Sears I asked about an oil plug and the service guy at the automotive sales counter ran and got me one since I knew the size. They couldn't figure out how to ring it up so they asked a manager, and he came and said they would only sell me the plug with an oil change! Thanks Sears! Needless to say I had to make a second stop at O'Reilly's.

Edit: I added a few pictures of what I had to deal with.

 

WOW glad you got it out!!