I know my car is getting on in years and miles, '86 sedan and 302K miles and I change my oil every 2500 miles with Castrol GTX 10W-30 with a Mann filter. I use the copper crush washer twice, once new, then on the next oil change, I'll flip and use it again before pitching it for another new one. Lately I've noticed a small drop of oil hanging from the drain plug when I get ready to remove it and on occassion, a small puddle, about 2-3" in diameter in the driveway. Since I'm changing the oil so often, should I either use a new washer each time or is the drain pan plug bolt threads loosing their snugness and should I go with a new drain plug? And what of the threads in the drain pan itself? By the way, no oil comes down from the upper part of the oil pan to the plug (low point), it's dry. I know this all seems like a trival problem, but I'm sorta anal about this car.........I keep up on everything.

Thanks in advance for your advice...

A thin smear of silicone on each side of the washer (not on the threads) after carefully cleaning the plug and pan mating surface cures the drip you are experiencing. I use silicone caulk in the tubes that has the nozzle that unscrews. I find lots of uses for it and curing the leak on the drain plug on our 82 GLT is just one of many/

Randy

I have used an o-ring on a Volvo oil drain plug. The pan has a slight chamfer leading to the oil drain home, and the o-ring fit nicely into it. It didn't leak any more.
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john

I always reuse my copper washers by annealing them. I have a stack of washers in my volvo parts bin. When I use one, I set it aside waiting for my roughly once a year or two annealing party. You can probably do this for the gas filter washers, as well.

I hold it with a pair of needle nose pliers in the hottest part of my propane torch, or sometimes on the gas stove when my wife's not looking and I heat the buggers til cherry red. I might have to rotate the washer a little and use an extra pair of pliers to make sure the whole washer is uniformly heated. Use old pliers, too.

Most of the time, I do about a dozen or so during a session. Doesn't take long. Afterwards, I rub off any dirt or oxidation with a rag and put them back in my parts bin.

I've been told that annealing is a process that takes a work hardened piece of copper and changes it back to its original ductile structure. You might do some more reading about annealing. Since I've started doing this, back in my motorcycle days in the early 70's, I have never had a drain plug leak!

....you've reawakened an o-o-old memory! In the owner's manual for my (late, lamented) Matchless G80CS, they recommended reusing the solid copper head gasket(!) after it had been annealed.
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Bob (son's 81-244GL B21F, dtr's 83-244DL B23F, 'my' 94-944 B230FD; plus grocery-getter Dodge minivan, hobbycar 77 MGB, and numerous old motorcycles)

I'm cheap, so I have always flipped my washers, too, and have done so w/o problems for 20 years. Are you getting the plug back in tight enough? You need to snug it up pretty good. If you are using a cheaper Cresent wrench, you may just not be installing the plug tight enough. If going a little tighter doesn't solve the problem, you might want to replace the drain plug itself. ipd sells a magnetic plug which fits well. I am not convinced you really need the magnet, but what the heck. Allen

The magnet plug is cheap and it does attract very fine particles the filter (Mann) is not getting out., it can't hurt anything. Dan

You can try a little non hardening Permatex gasket seal on the threads or maybe you need to tighten it a little more. Dan

I typically use crush washers about 4-6 times. My vote is that the threads are worn out from changing the oil so often!

3/4" x 16tpi is the plug size. If you want to go with a magnetic plug, get the iPd one. I bought one of the cheaper Scantech/MTC plugs, and it was only the third change when the threads were already wearing out.

3k is pretty short already, as even Volvo factory recommendations are 5k.

-- Kane
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Blossom II -'91 745Ti/M46 ... Bubbles -'74 144GL/BW35 ... Buttercup -'86 245GL/AW70
The Wayback Machine -'64 P220/M40 ... The ParaBox -'90 745GL/AW70

Crush washers are cheap, don't reuse them. The plug threads should be OK. You cannot wiggle it when it is half way in/out, right? You should be OK after the next oil change.

Klaus
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98 V70Rawd(101Kmi), 95 854T(85K mi), 88 245(165K mi)