assuming yours still has the plastic under cover... we took his off and left it off.. much easier to access things without it
but yeah, you are supposed to pull that cover off for the oil changes, and any other work up front (coolant changes, etc) then you are "supposed" to put it back on.. pfft
his has been off for probably 7-8 years now, with no detrimental effects. oil changes are super easy with full access.