I noticed on the wife's van a few drops of oil on the ground. I see no seal leaks in the head and no service lights, etc. The van is actually running great. When I traced the trail back, it's relatively high up where the PCV valve is. It has almost 80K and I know I've never changed the valve. If it is not that area, then I'm looking at the more time consuming upper valve gasket leak. I thought I would try to change the PCV valve. My book shows me where it's at, and I can see it from the side and put my hand on it. The van has a 3.3 and it sits on the rear valve cover.

Neither Autozone or Advance carry this, so I will be heading to the dealer to obtain, unless anyone else has other ideas. Has anyone changed this? Why is it not routinely changed (like when I had them change her spark plugs at 70K? If I get this and it doesn't stop the little "drip", has anyone done a valve gasket cover job, and how complicated is that?

I also own a 97 Transport and changing the PCV valve is a $3, 2 minute job, so I change it every 30K or so. Thanks in advance for any help.

Do not know about the 2001, but on my 1996 with 3.3 liter engine, the PCV is located above the throttle body and plugs in horizontally ( look in from over the grill and on my car the valve is white), the clean air hose comes off of the valve cover and goes to the air intake plenum. I buy my PCV from Advance.

I'm sure they don't get changed because of the difficulty involved in getting to it. You will have to pull the cowl and wiper assembly. joandjo's got you covered on that job. (http://www.allpar.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=84985) It should be similar on the '01. Sometimes the rubber hose assembly it's mounted in needs to be replaced because it dry rots out from heat and breaks when you try to remove the PCV. I would replace this part, too. Yours also may be mounted in a grommet in the valve cover. '01 is a transition year and there are some things specific to that year.
You still may have a valve cover leak. I would do the valve cover gaskets, and wires as well, if I were into it that far. MOPAR is best on all these parts.
Don't be shocked to find the rear spark plugs weren't replaced. Mine had the original Champions in it when I changed them, despite the $tealers assurances that they were changed.
As always, good luck with your project!

webbee, I thought about that "didn't change the rear ones" idea, I thought there was a rule where they are supposed to give you the parts they take out, or at least offer to show you them. You would think if they did change them, they would have checked out the pvc while in the vicinity.

It is behind the intake plenum, which might be movable if I need to. I have small hands and can get my hands on it, so if I can get a wrench on there, I have a chance of getting it out. I will see if they have the hose in stock (had to have the dealer order the pcv valve-I mean why would a dealer want to have one of those in stock!).

It also says check every 30K, replace if need be. Well, my van has been down there 5 times since 30K, you would think that would be an "automatic" for the dealer. I have the dab of liquid wrench on the bottom of the valve where it screws into the cover, and plan on using a safety puller to get the hose off (in case they have to order that).

Changed the PCV on my 96 3.8 ltr with 195K miles about a month ago for the first time. Figured it was time for a new one. Had it out and in in three or four minutes. Didn't have to remove anything. Hoses were fine.

Think your leak is more likely the valve cover gaskets. Won't hurt anything to change the PCV though. I understand there is a dye you can put in your oil to trace leaks. I'm clueless about it beyond that.

Well, changing it wasn't 3 or 4 minutes, although if you had a huge open end wrench (>20) or a short crescent it would have been easier. Funny part was the part was like $5 or $6 cheaper at the dealer than online! The old one still had "shake" to it, so that might not have been the problem. Anyway, if the small drip stops, that will be that. If it doesn't I might be looking at an upper valve cover gasket, which looks a whole lot more complicated (has anyone done that?).

Also, are any oil additives recommended that might stop a small leak like that? I'm usually against anything in the oil, but might considerer something unlikely to harm the engine if it can stop a small leak from becoming a big one. Has anyone had any luck or bad luck with any of those types of products?