Hi there y’all Today I was about to take my 456 M for a ride after a few months I’ve been away. A minute after I cranked the engine up I smelled burnt oil while I saw smoke coming from under the bonnet. Now I would like to bring my 456 to a Ferrari garage but they’re all locked down cause of the Coronavirus. Any suggestions on what to check? No warning lights popping up. Thanks
Valve cover gaskets. Somewhat notorious for weeping. The original paper versions have been replaced by an improved gasket. They typically drip down the front of the engine and you find oil on the belts, belt cover, etc. But can drool anywhere including exhaust headers. That would explain smell and smoke. Good Luck.
Thanks for your reply, it definitely sheds a light. I shall have those gaskets checked. I shot some pics that maybe could help to diagnose what happened (either confirming the valve gaskets issue or suggesting something else). I can see oil stains so I guess the smoke was due to the oil burning on the hot engine. I was thinking to crank up the engine and try to locate where the smoke is coming from. Do you reckon is safe to start the engine again? Cheers. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Sure. Flashlight in your left hand, camera in your right, fire extinguisher sitting right beside your left foot. There isn't anything mechanical really wrong with the engine if I understand this correctly. A weeping of oil that is hitting a hot surface. Which bank are those pictures? I don't have my car with me so can't compare.
Left bank (looking the car from its front). It's a LHD. If there's the risk of a fire i wouldn't really attempt to start the engine though. Wouldn't want to make things worse...
Doubt there is much risk of a flash fire. Start a cold engine with a bit of oil seepage and you'll get some smoking off from an exhaust manifold I would guess. Or have it hauled to the shop. The gaskets (or something else) needs to be addressed one way or the other. Good luck
Oil has a relatively low vapor pressure, unlike gasoline, and it would have to be really, really hot to start a fire from seepage.
Ok, thanks to you both. I take that both the symptoms and the pics suggest that the problem lies in the valve cover gasket (I was reading posts of smoke caused by valve guides failures but I assume this ain’t the case). I will start the engine again and have a better look on where the smoke is coming from, what's its colour etc. Shall update ;-)
Valve guide failure smoke comes out the exhaust. Valve cover gasket failure drools in the engine bay. I am as reasonably sure as I can be diagnosing a car somewhere in the UK from New Hampshire (US) via the internet. It is the most probable answer.
Sometimes snugging up the valve cover bolts will help. It is worth a try. Replacing the gaskets will be several $K at the dealer.
Hi guys, So, here goes: First off, I hear a high hiss noise when the engine starts (hear it in the video 1), the noise disappears after a couple of minutes. Maybe this is normal and the noise has always been there upon cranking up, but I hadn’t really paid much attention until now. The car starts to smoke (white smoke) after approx 4-5 min, by then the high hiss noise is gone (video 2). Video 3 has been shot right after I turned off the engine. Water level is ok. After the engine started I couldn’t really spot any oil leakage, though I could only see the top bit and can’t exclude that there's a leaking somewhere in the lower bit of the engine. While “smoking” there are no warning lights blinking in the dashboard. The car doesn't overheat either. To my disbelief I found one major issue (that maybe could explain this problem): Oil checked with engine on at idle: well above the max Oil checked right after shut down: well above the max Oil checked with cold engine: well above the max Now, this left me kinda dazed as the issue is rather bizzarre : I don’t recall adding any motor oil since I last used the car (and it certainly wasn’t “smoking” then). As first step I will use a syringe to drain the excess oil, I hope I haven’t damaged anything by letting the engine idle twice while experiencing this problem. (?) Laserguru, if what is causing this is indeed the valve gasket, should I see any oil spill/stains on the top/side of the bank? Thanks for reading. Video 1: https://www.dropbox.com/home/cartella senza titolo 2?preview=Video+1.MOV Video 2: https://www.dropbox.com/home/cartella senza titolo 2?preview=Video+2.MOV Video 3: https://www.dropbox.com/home?preview=VIDEO+3.mp4
Maybe it's just the photos, but in your original post, it looks like oil has been dripping on the spark plug wires and the bottom of your throttle body looks wet with oil. I don't think a leaking cam cover would make the spark plug wires wet with oil the way it looks in your photos. Maybe remove the rubber elbows to the throttle bodies and look inside?
Hi Avimax, Those pics where shot the morning after I first experienced the problem. Since then I cranked up the engine twice (idle for 5 minutes both times) and the oil stains didn’t get any worse. This makes me think that they where there before the “smoking” occurred and maybe (maybe!) ain't related to this issue. Anyway I’ll take into account your suggestion, thank you.
Might this be helpful to someone experiencing the same problem: the smoke was coming from oil dripped on the manifolds. A thorough oil check showed that the level was well above the maximum (I must have checked the level on a cold engine and added more than it needed). Draining the excess oil (hence bringing its level between the min and the max on the oil stick) solved the issue.
