I usually do my own oil changes when I can but last time I had it changed was on a road trip where I had a disastrous engine failure which led to the short block being completely replaced. I went to change my oil this week and I could not get the bolt to budge it was on so tight. Now the bolt head is rounded off and I can't find anybody that can help out. I have a Fumoto valve that I'd like to install in its place if we can ever get it that far. Valvoline couldn't get it to go, referred me to Midas Midas said they'd need to drill out the plug and retap the pan Pep Boys said there's no way they're going to install my Fumoto "because they leak" The other full service shops around my neighborhood are booked out a week or two. I probably won't be able to take it back to Oregon to have the dealer that changed it last fix it. What now?
New short block? Wonder if you got a new oil drain pan with that. The pans are painted with the plugs in them, which makes them an absolute pain to remove the first time. You're far from the first person to round off a subaru drain plug. I've got a few ideas I'll throw out here, but seeing the bolt will help me decide which route is the best option (got a photo?). Did you have the vehicle jacked up on jack stands or on the ground? Even though a crosstrek has a decent amount of ground clearance, getting the vehicle up higher allows for more room to work, and better working angles for you/your tools (allows you to completely get tools fully seated on fasteners). If you didn't have the vehicle jacked up, first step would be to get it jacked up to give yourself more room. My first try would probably be to get an impact socket that is a millimeter (mm) or two smaller (depending on how rounded off it is) and hammer that socket on. You need to make sure that you get the socket hammered on as far as you absolutely can before then trying to remove it. A cheap impact socket from Harbor Freight, Lowes, Craftsman, or Home Depot are great options for this. A good long breaker bar (only usable if you have the car jacked up) and a hammered on impact socket does the trick for a lot of things. Bolt outs work if the bolt isn't too stuck. Most likely will not work in this case, and might result in the bolt getting rounded off even more. Astro Pneumatic makes some good ones (both in sockets and wrench form) that I think work better than most others that are a spiral pattern. Drilling is always an option, and it will always work if done right, but I'd avoid that as the first attempt. It'll be messy and you absolutely need to be dead center when starting to drill. If the bolt is completely destroyed, this is one of the only options. Potentially could suction oil out of the drain pan through the fill or dipstick tube. Welding is possible, but I wouldn't recommend it for this situation. Welding on engines can be very tricky (generally not because of electrical issues like most think, but because of the fuel vapors that can ignite). I've seen the results of a few people who have welded on an engine that had the right air/gas vapor mixture and it ignited. Blows out all the gaskets in the engine usually. If you can wait until late next week, I potentially could be able to help with it depending on timing/location and such.
Hammer, chisel. There's a pretty wide flange under the hex head of the plug. Pound straight in towards the center of the plug to make a notch in that flange, then pound at an angle to get the plug to rotate. Take some finesse to only ruin the plug, and not the pan, but totally doable, a skilled hand can do it with an air hammer. This is SOP, and any shop that doesn't know this shouldn't be considered, IMHO. One of the techs here had to do this with both rear diff plugs and the CVT fill plug after a quick-lube shop had been in there last. The CVT fill plug had obviously been removed and reinstalled with that method.
I'm thinking dealer on this one as they will be most familiar with this type of situation on a Subaru oil pan. Hell, the dealer Chux works at is a whole lot closer than Oregon.
