This morning my 2006 SC was hard to start and had a knocking noise. I tried to start it 3 times with the same result before leaving it at home. I am looking for tips on where to start. I do have a IIDtool. Here are the symptoms:

Parked yesterday evening, no suspicious sound or anything
Hard to start, first low idle, stutter, then highish idle
Blipped the throttle, I am unsure if it is running on all 8
Knocking sound from engine, same frequency as rpms, not unlike hydraulic lifter but I have heard a couple of lifter on cold mornings on this car and it is not the same sound
Smell of fuel from exhaust
Oil on dipstick
No engine lamp
2 out of 3 starts brought up "traction reduced" message, that might be coincidental as I sometimes see this when it is cold

Just got home from work, started the car, ready with stethoscope. After a coupe of seconds, the knocking faded away, there was a small misfire for another 10-20 seconds before everything now seems to be as usual.

Any ideas? 2006 Supercharged

Dirty injector which has cleared? John
2008 Stornoway Grey 3.6 Tdv8 Vogue - SOLD
2005 TD6 Java Black Vogue - Written off!!
GAP iiD BT-Sold

Maybe... can it lead to knocking sounds? Maybe it was excess fuel igniting in the exhaust manifold?

A stuck open injector would explain the fuel smell. 2006 Supercharged