I have only had a problem for a couple of weeks now. I bottomed out my 2000 Stratus coming out of a parking lot and that is when the leak started happening. After a week or so I forgot to add oil and I went nearly dry and my check engine came on. I added 5 quarts of new oil and a week later I am already down to about half. Also the other day the car was acting like it was going to stall on me but only when at a complete stop. I let it sit over night and now today it is running just fine.

The leak appears to be only happening when driving. When I park I obviously get dripping but that is just from all the oil that was sprayed around while in motion. The drip is coming from somewhere above the oil pan gasket area I think and though I have wet oil all around the bottom, the drip is worst to the left in the area between the transmission pan and oil pan. I can't figure out where exactly the leak is coming from. I also ran a diagnostic with the folks at autozone and got a cylinder 4 misfire code as well as an HVAC leak code I think. I will post the actual codes later. The last thing is I have notices a hiss coming from somewhere near the EGR but I cannot locate it. Any insight into this would be most appreciated!

 

Best start by cleaning it up with some degrease. Let the car idle. The oil lines are pressurized when the car is running, so if something is loose or cracked, it may not leak when the oil is cooled down and not under pressure.

 

An oil leak that occours when the engine is running suggests that it is oil under pressure. Could be the oil filter,
pressure sending unit, or an external oil line. You have to get under the car while it is running. Oil dye is helpfull.