The car is an '01 Jetta, base 2.0L engine. It has the shroud around the oil pan, lined with foam. With every oil change, more oil gets into the foam, both from the drain plug and the filter. The foam is thoroughly saturated with oil.
Changed the oil Sunday morning, and noticed a couple of spots on the driveway afterward. A look underneath shows some drops about to fall from the shroud. My problem is, I can't tell if these drops are from the saturated foam, an under-tightened filter, an under-tightened drain plug, bad gasket, etc.
I'd like to get rid of the shroud and foam. How difficult is it to remove the shroud altogether, and are there any reasons that this can't be done? I assume it's there for sound deadening, and I assume that the sound with it removed can't be any worse than any other engine without a similar shroud -- in other words, not that bad.
Anyone done this before?