Gasoline Odor?

[jakdad]

Our Marauder has developed an odor at start up in the A.M. This morning was different. We not only got the raw gas odor but the puff of blue smoke and some rattling noise like valve train or maybe rod bearings. Car has only 4000 pampered miles.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[MM2004]

Are you pressing the gas pedal prior to starting? Mine has the blue smoke from time to time with 2800 mi. Is the car started everyday? Prolong sitting may cause valve "clatter" for a few seconds before the oil makes it to the top IMHO.
Is the noise a tick or a clank?
Mike.

Our Marauder has developed an odor at start up in the A.M. This morning was different. We not only got the raw gas odor but the puff of blue smoke and some rattling noise like valve train or maybe rod bearings. Car has only 4000 pampered miles.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[RF Overlord]

I'll second what Mike said^^^

What brand and viscosity of oil are you using...and are you using the Motorcraft filter?

[BillyGman]

Is the noise a tick or a clank?
Mike.This^is a good question, since the ticking noise is very common among 4.6L engines in Marauders,Cobras, and Mustangs.

[jakdad]

Are you pressing the gas pedal prior to starting? Mine has the blue smoke from time to time with 2800 mi. Is the car started everyday? Prolong sitting may cause valve "clatter" for a few seconds before the oil makes it to the top IMHO.
Is the noise a tick or a clank?
Mike. The car is driven daily. The oil is Motorcraft whatever the Ford dealer uses. Same for filter. This noise is a clatter, not a ticking. We came home today and I let the car sit for three hours or so, started it up, no smoke, odor or clatter. When we start it in the morning we will have it all over again. I checked the oil and it was slightly over full, which is the level our dealer put in. My fear is fire. I can handle a blown engine but this ol' boy ain't geared up for no cook-out. If you guys think of anything else, please advise.

[BillyGman]

as for the engine oil level being too high, I think there's an issue with the dipsticks on some of the 4.6L engines being inaccurate. There's been some talk on this board of the dipstick showing an inproper oil level reading even when the proper amount of 6.3 qts of oil has been added (w/filter change). And I can assure you that there's also been MUCH confusion and talk about this very same thing amongst the 4.6L Mustang and Cobra owners of the SVTperformance board as well. So as long as your dealer put in the 6 Quart (technically 6.3 QT) oil amount, then that's nothing to worry about.

[jakdad]

as for the engine oil level being too high, I think there's an issue with the dipsticks on some of the 4.6L engines being inaccurate. There's been some talk on this board of the dipstick showing an inproper oil level reading even when the proper amount of 6.3 qts of oil has been added (w/filter change). And I can assure you that there's also been MUCH confusion and talk about this very same thing amongst the 4.6L Mustang and Cobra owners of the SVTperformance board as well. So as long as your dealer put in the 6 Quart (technically 6.3 QT) oil amount, then that's nothing to worry about. I agree. The only reason I was concerned with oil level is in the event that gas was entering the crankcase. The oil looked and smelled ok.

[jakdad]

Started up this morning, no smoke, gas odor, or rattling. Outside temp about the same as the last few days. Strange animals....................... ......

[TripleTransAm]

My MM burped up once... left a stain on my old driveway. I might have overfilled it just before tucking her away again after a short 5 minute drive to 'air her out', smack in the middle of her storage. From all indications (the area of the stain, plus some staining underneath), it looked like it came from the hardware immediately under the tank (EVAP?). Never happened again since.

EDIT: oh yeah, battery had died as well. I wonder if this caused the EVAP hardware to 'freak out'?