New oil leak

My '97 with 122,000 miles on it never leaked a single drop of oil until just recently. In the last couple of weeks it has just started leaking-bad.
dinner plate sized puddle in my garage every morning and getting worse by the day. I know they are prone to leaking where the engine cases join,, but if that were the problem, it doesnt seem like it woild have come up so quick..
any ideas......????

Did you just get an oil change done?

Sometimes the buggers don't wipe down the oil pan after the drain, it spills onto the chassis or other parts and drips.

Keep an eye on your oil level to see if it's coming from the engine if you just had an oil change done.

HL

I change the oil every 3000 miles... its never dropped even a quarter quart between changes. this time it has about 2800 on the change, and it is already down a half quart.

when i bought my 96 it leaked a spot about 5 inches in the driveway every nite. i used a bottle of wal marts stop leak and within a week the leak stopped and has never returned....yet

The reason for the block halves leaking like they do is simple human error. Coolant is only good for so long and in a car with as much aluminum in the cooling system as these, it needs changed regularly. Most people, myself included, commonly overlook this. Put additives such as Pencool in your coolant to keep the it conditioned or flush and use spend the extra pocket change on extended life. The end effect of the failure is pitted aluminum which seems to effect the block halves the worst. If you want a better idea where your oil leak is coming from, you're going to get dirty. Jack it up, put it on stands, and look. When and if you take it in for repairs, you'll already have an idea of where it's coming from so when they tell you that you need a front cover gasket, fuel pump and a tranny flush, you can tell them to shove it.
-N8