Changing the oil

Another of the joys of the V6.

Can't you just use your ratchet with no socket on it? My honda's trannie plug is like that, no socket required, just the ratchet or a breaker bar.

special volvo wrench required...it keeps up the revenue stream.....

They are only 1/4", 3/8" or 1/2" (and come in some bigger sizes). 5/16" would have been about right but there is no such.

Find a local machine shop and have them make you a socket, or do it yourself by filing down a short grade-8 bolt with a hand file or bench grinder. It'll cost you only a couple bucks.

Find a short piece of square bar stock that will fit it, and apply a Crescent wrench.

Then borrow a car and go buy a conventional drain plug and replace it.

Gary

Thanks you all for the suggestions folks, I got a 5/16" worn lathe tool from a mate. But it was really hard from good local toolshops and a volvo dealer didn't want to know... they must expect the car to be scrapped after the 10 years support quoted. Good advert for a new one. not.

Volvo does not make a tool for the drain plug on the V-6 Motors any good auto parts store should be able to supply you with the correct Allen key to remove the drain plug

I would have thought so and can believe there are better sops than here in western australia, but none of the local shops had anything. Repco told me there was a special volvo tool but they probably wouldn't sell one to me.

Sure it's a pig of a motor & possibly the worst thing volvo ever did, but you choose 25 year old cars on different criteria. This is a fairly minor problemette specially when the whole thing cost less than a head job on a Camry. Other cars & motors have foibles too, this newsgoup is quite active with peoples' problems but the v6 is barely figures... you'd wonder if any volvo really is that flash based on some stories here.

If there is a special Volvo tool you can purchase from the dealers part department I will check this with the parts department on Thursday & post back with the part # & approximate cost Glenn

Why not try a Renault or Peugeot dealer? They both used the same V6 motor.

Cheers, Peter.

Your frustration continues as I found this discontinued (no replacement) item:

Mike

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Again thanks for your trouble Michael, Glen & etc. the lathe tool from my mate should work but haven't tried it yet. Meanwhile I might have set a record for longest thread for the smallest bit for a volvo?

That's a really smart suggestion although pretty obvious didn't occur to me. That will be my next resort for sure if my lathe cutter doesn't work.

You can get them off tool trucks. Around here there are Snap-On and MAC tool trucks, they probably won't have it on board, but they'd be able to get it. Or to the "quickie oil change place" method - Vice grips!

We have snapon too, you have to be somewhere they go (I work at home as a draftsman) & they don't seem to have an address in this state, they also don't seem to have much of a website. Vicegrips are one of my tools of choice but this is a female plug... double adaptor so to speak.

I can't help you finding a truck, but for a mere A$ 30.47...

Thank you Mike, it's even an Aus. website. Part of my trouble was the nomenclature (I wouldn't have called it a socket... or a pipe plug). I will see how the bit I have works first but might bite the bullet despite the price - my engineering substitutions usually don't go too well partly because the workshop is a bit too basic & now full of leftovers from daughters' attempts at leaving home.