Need to run something by you guys..

My wife has a '97 Camry (4cyl) with about 93K miles on it; had it about six years & it's been a great car, especially considering how she drives (think Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder...or maybe Top Gun)..

Anyway...couple days ago I noticed a couple of dime-sized spots of oil under the passenger side of the car. I'd clean them up, look for the leak (couldn't find it) & the same thing would happen again for a few days.

Now tonight I look under the car & theres a nice *puddle* of oil on the garage floor. Checked the dipstick & it actually reads well within the full area.
Looked on the underside & I can see oil drops on both driver & passenger side of the chassis.
The drivers side of the engine looks dry, but the underside/passenger side has an area on the rear of the engine that looks soaked in oil.
I don't know jack about 'yota's so what's in that area that could be leaking?
If this gives any idea, there's two drive belts on that side of the engine-one about 1/2 inch wide, the other is more narrow. The wet area seems to be around whatever the narrower drive belt attaches to.
Any ideas appreciated. Unless it's the &*#@ rear main seal-I know those are b***h to do in Chevy's....

Thanks for reading

I spent $9 on a 30MM socket (1/2 inch drive)….took the spark plug wires off, tightened the valve cover. Crawled under and tightened the oil pan bolts (10MM I think). I poured ½ bottle of Bar’s Stop Leak (O’Reilly’s auto parts) in the oil, drove the car approx. 50 miles and most my leaks seem to be stopped for the time being.

1996 2.2 liter I4

It's always good to keep a clean PCV valve in there (right side of valve cover on 2.2 L). The engine crank case has to vent or it will blow oil past the weakest seal.

It sounds like you simply need a new valve cover gasket and maybe some other seals. The car has a lot of miles. Gaskets shrivel up.

Could also be the power steering unit/hoses/connections.

(The rear main seal is on the driver's side of the car.)