Absolute Worst 3.1 Engine Oil Leak Possible!!!

I found a HUGE PUDDLE of oil under my 95 3.1 Lumina APV after stopping. It continued to pour out until the engine cooled down. Under the hood there were puddles of oil on top of the engine and on everything in else in sight. I got some oil and filled er up and stopped a few times on the way home to keep the oil filled (used like 4 - 5 quarts in 40 minutes) leaving a continual trail of oil as I drove along. The oil pours out only when the engine is running. I'm thinking the valve cover gasket is the culprit. Is there anything else that I should look at for this amount of oil leaking? If I start the engine oil will fly everywhere! Before this there were a few drops leaking over night. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks for your help!

Sounds expensive. Kind of strange that it would suddenly develop such a leak.. You sure you didn't puncture your oil pan?

Sounds expensive. Kind of strange that it would suddenly develop such a leak.. You sure you didn't puncture your oil pan?

Sure. No leaks to speak of when engine is off. I have plenty of oil in there since topping up. But turn on the engine and it pours out. Guess I'll clean up the engine and turn it on to see if I can tell where it's coming from.

A common oil leak source is at the distributor gasket...even for those 3.1 with the electronic distributor and a plug where the rotary distributor used to be....
however by the amount you seem to describe, I doubt that could be a satisfactory explanation...
mmm...oil filter tight?

Hmm so a gasket could not cause a big leak like that? Well I did have an oil change the day before this happened. I took it back to the garage to check it and they said all was fine, but I'll check it myself. Thanks.

I had the exact same problem with the same year van. It turned out it was the front seal (gasket) on the oil pan. It was installed incorrecly at the factory and it finally pushed out after 170,000 km. It was relatively easy (but time consuming) to fix, I just had to remove the right front wheel, harmonic balancer, etc. and drop the pan a few inches. Cleaned it all up, put in a new seal, bolted it all back together and it's been fine for a few years now.