Just noticed a major oil leak at the front of my engine, directly above my oil pan. I thought it was the oil pan gasket, but I changed that.

While running, it drips a 4 inch puddle of oil in a matter of 30 seconds. And noticed the oil was real low the other day (after changing it maybe 6 months ago). I also notice that the oil pressure is really low at idle, maybe 1.25 .

Is it fairly safe to say that it's probably the front crank seal leaking? I'm wondering if that's a do-able job, and how long that typically takes. This is a W123, so it's a bit less room than the W126, so maybe there are some tips to make it easier to get to, even if I have to take more stuff apart.

I also notice that there's an incredible amount of grease all over the passenger underside of the engine, but NOT the drivers side - so I'm wondering maybe as it's leaking, the fan (since it rotates clockwise, toward the passenger side) may be blowing the oil toward that side.

Possibly a separate note, that I'm noticing all of the sudden some smoke coming from underneath the air filter housing. I sprayed the throttle linkage with some heat-resistant WD40 (and may have leaked some fluid over the passenger edge of the engine block), but I doubt it's that. The smoke seems to get worse as I drive more, ie perhaps as more oil gets on the side of the engine. It's not any thicker/darker smoke than would come out of the valve cover into the air filter housing, anyway.

Perhaps I'll put the car on ramps and take a peak from underneath to see exactly where the smoke is coming from.