I was on a trip about 50 miles from home. Check oil light comes on for about thirty seconds after the car has been on for about thirty seconds. I turned it off, then on, and it did the same thing. I found a gas station and bought the closest thing to Mobil 1 5W-30, Pennzoil non-synthetic and put in half a quart. I can't check my oil w/o needlenose pliers because the handle broke off my dipstick a while back. Restarted the car and the light stayed off. When I got onto the interstate, the SES light came on for about two seconds. About halfway home we stopped at a rest area, I jacked it up and made sure the oil filter was tight. I crawled under it today and there is oil all over the place in the general area of the filter, oil pan area. I checked the oil and it was THREE QUARTS LOW. I changed it myself a little over a month ago. Oil pressure has always been fine.

Does anyone know some gaskets that may create some trouble? My rear valve cover gasket has always leaked a little bit, but I don't think it is the cause of this. When I went today to the dealership to order a new dipstick, the service guy said oil pan gaskets are problems for 3.1 and 3.8L'*.

On the Older Style (86-91) 3.8'* it Valve Cover Gaskets, Oil Pan Gasket & Oil Filter Adapter-To-Block Gasket.
On the Series I'* it was Valve Cover Gaskets, Oil Pan gasket & Lower intake Gaskets.
On the Series II"* it was Rear Valve Cover Gasket, Rear Main Crank Seal, Rear Main Crank Seal Housing Gasket, Oil Pan Gasket & Lower Intake Gaskets.

I would say its prolly the Oil Pan Gasket unless you found oil under the hood. Oil pan gaskets arent that hard and you can do it yourself. Good Luck

You didn't double-gasket the new oil filter by mistake, right? i.e. When the old filter was unscrewed, its old rubber ring came with it and didn't get stuck to the block, I hope...

Can you see for sure where the oil was coming out?

I guess I really didn't knotice if the gasket came off. And no, I can't tell where the oil is coming from.
On a side note, I was picking my dad up from work that night. I had the car off while waiting for him. After he got in, I startewd up and went to pull out. Just as I was aobut to pull onto the road, all of a sudden there is a loud whoosh just as my check oil level light came on. I stop, get pissed off, and say what the hell was that, thinking my oil filter blew off or something. Dad explains that there is an air horn that goes offright after his shift ends. Scared the hell out of me.

Today I replaced the oil pan and valve cover gaskets. The oil pan wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. On the driver side, the flywheel cover also covers two bolts. On the passenger side, the lines to the oil filter adapter run right over another bolt. The cover took some bending to get out of the way. The damn oil lines just did not want to get out of the way. I only needed one to be gone, and it took forever, it just wouldn't give up for the longest time. I discovered the oil pan was leaking where the block, the front cover and the gasket met. The valve covers went mostly smoothly. I didn't think to unhook the battery. I had taken out the alternator to get it out of the way. When I went to put it back in, I hit the single large wire that connects to the alternator and knocked it into some metal part. It sparked A LOT and actually caught some nearby wiring on fire. I managed to not freak too much got the alternator out of the way, blew out the wires, and knocked the wire off the metal part it was welding it self to. It seemed every wire under my hood was hissing, bubbling, or smoking!!! I had never seen anything like it. So...I promptly unhooked the battery, and put everything back together in a state of shock, because I figured I just fried everything. Luckily, everything seems to work still...for now.