All right, though it sucks to say, the 300D I bought barely a week ago has started hemorrhaging oil. I have it in the driveway searching, but it's hard to see (and I thought it might be under the air cleaner; that's where the stream drips onto the pavement) so I disconnected the turbo air intake pipe and removed the whole air cleaner assembly.

There's oil all over, and the way the leak was coming out makes it seem like a leak when under pressure. If you fill the crankcase with oil, it'll literally puke a quart and a half out in a matter of an hour or two when being driven. Then, when the level gets down to a half-quart low, the leak slows to a tiny drip.

I cleaned the engine off yesterday but couldn't see well enough to find the leak, hence my removal of the air cleaner. ... Can I hurt the car by starting it with the air cleaner off? Considering there are oil hoses and some sort of oil separator in the air cleaner housing? (And what does that thing do, anyway?)

Any and all help appreciated.

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-- 1983 300D, acquired 10/19/2005 at 215,000+ turbodiesel miles ... engine croaked almost immediately ... back on the road at 217,210 with a 144K turbo motor from a donor '85. ... May 2007, replaced radiator. ... Now (2/28/08) about 240K miles and dead due to battery?