Puff of blue smoke on start up

Not trying to jump to conclusions or scare you but have the valve guides been updated on your car? Smoke on startup after sitting is usually an indication of worn valve seals, or guides in the F355.

I believe the oil drains back into the sump to a certain extent (hence the reason to check oil level on a warm engine while idling or immediately after shutdown) to get an accurate reading and avoid overfilling.


In any case it should not be making it's way into the cylinders.....

 

Why is it oil level dependent?

This has to do with the way a dry sump oiling system vents crankcase gasses out the dry sump and into the air boxes over the throttle bodies. {Hint I had this problem too.}

In my car (95 F355), when the oil was above the middle of the dip stick, the car would consume oil at about 1 Qt per 1000 mles. Then after it got to midpoint, it would not consume any oil for the remainder of the oil change interval.

What happens is that when the oil level is too high, the cranjcase venting process can carry small amounts of oil into the intake system. Once the oil level drops to a certain point this carriage of oil stops.

If you put the oil up at the top of the dip stick, the crankcase ventilation system can suck oil directly into the intake system causing blue smoke.

So, leave the oil no higher than mid point on the dip stick.

 

Smoke on a cold start ups aren't un common. Hundreds of youtube videos of exotic cars expelling smoke out of they're tail pipes at start up. Nothing new here. I would get it checked out if you continue to expel smoke after it's been running hot. Water vapor is a normal byproduct of combustion.

13 - 35 second mark. Heavy smoke on a Bentley.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0LaueYEFlE]2007 Bentley Continental GT Start Up and City Driving - YouTube[/ame]

 

For many who drive short distances and see 190*f on the gauge maybe all the oil is 190 and maybe it is not. @190*f 12qt of oil is over 1/2 qt higher than at 68*F and @ 250*f the volume increase nearly a full qt! CoE oil is 9.555x10-4/*c

 

Mine has done the same thing in the past and I have had the guides done too. Its just a question of oil levels. These cars like the oil a little on the lower side rather than higher.