I brought the new 300D home today, maybe 200 miles on the highway and then I pushed it around the city running errands. A while after I was home I went out to the street and noticed a slippery black puddle under my engine bay and a wet pan. When I check the dipstick, while it was still quite hot, the level was very high. Could my previous owner have just topped it off way to high or does it sound like I have a big *** problem? What types of things should I be checking?

 

Get some engine cleaner spray and hose theengine and oil panoff. Towel dry the areas where you will be working,drain the oil, change the filter and refill with new 15W-40 Delvac or Rotella. Monitor your situation from here to see if you have a leak.

 

At the very least you need to drain the engine and refill it in order to make sure it's not overfull.

After you clean it, pay close attention to the pan gasket as well as the seals on the turbo drain tube (especially if the leak is on the passenger side). If the majority of the leak appears to be on the driver side, check the hoses to the oil cooler.

 

I am looking to crawl into the engine bay a bit more as soon as I have some time. There is certainly quite a bit of oil coming out and it seems like it is coming right out of the engine. Does anyone know if it is possible that a seal is ruptured due to an overfill from my previous owner? I don't know how this car is SUPPOSED to run right now because I got it home and now I am finding these little things.... like a big black puddle.

 

Many things are possible. But what you need to do now is to clean it and then determine where the oil is coming from.