I have seen people putting engine/oil pan skidplates on. I am looking to find one just to sort of catch my oil leak. The seals are seeping and its not worth diving into all of that, I don’t mind topping oil off but I absolutely hate staining the driveway and marking my territory everywhere I park. Do these oil pan skidplates go back all the way to the rear main area? It is a bit hard to tell how far back it goes just from this picture.

 

These skid plates, "underbody shields" in GM-speak, were a factory option. Your likely only source for them is a wrecking yard. You'll likely also need the mounting brackets for them.

These extend to the aft end of the oil pan.

 

It seems to me that a skid plate isn't a great solution to an oil leak. For me, oil continues to drip onto my garage floor even with the skid plate installed. Oil collects in the skid plate and then overflows around the corners.

I suppose it might work if the skid plate were removed and cleaned regularly. But of course a better option would be to address the oil leak.

 

Yeah I wish I could pinpoint exactly what was leaking but I gave up. I replaced the PCV valve and the grommet because it looked a little wet there but thatt didn't fix it. I do not suspect valve covers. At my last oil change I put a bottle of AT205 in and the leak was gone for about 800 miles and then it came back. The whole oil pan is soaked and the oil pools and drips on the bottom and by the drain plug. Oil also drips off of the two rubber pieces (that supposedly cover two oil pan bolts?). Perhaps take those two rubber pieces off and tighten all oil pan bolts? The fact that the AT205 worked for 800 miles leads me to think some seal or gasket is going bad. Or maybe the oil pan is loose and oil is escaping.

 

probably rear seal,,we have two of these 98 and 2001 both are leakers...if it aint leaking it aint running...LOL

 

In the short term, you could get a drip pan for under the engine when parked in the garage. I need this for my old Mustang.

Regarding those two rubber plugs, if they look like these, they are for the bell housing.
https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c...466?q=12554466

If you want to find the leak, I would think taking a few cans of engine or brake cleaner will be necessary to clean off the engine and then run it to see where the oil leaks. You'll want to take those bell housing plugs out too.

I too have a leak that I suspect is related to the timing chain cover. It wasn't such a hassle to replace, I'd have done it. As it is, I'm happy to live with it for now and when/if I ever have the engine out, I can do a proper repair then.