I am chasing a relentless oil leak. I recently bought a 2003 S type with the 3.0 liter. I took it back to the dealer. They initially said the power steering pump was leaking. I was skeptical as the fluid on the ground and all over the driver side bottom of car was definitely oil. They replaced the pump and gave car back. Drove car about 30 miles turned off engine and it was still dripping oil at a pretty good rate. Driver side of engine. Took car back to dealer. They replaced valve cover gaskets. After two weeks of driving, car it is still consistently dripping in my drive way. Out of frustration I have decided to investigate it myself. I removed valve covers this afternoon. I have a couple of questions.
Is gasket sealant normally used on the valve cover gaskets. The dealer used what looks like ultra gray in back edge and front corners of gaskets.
Also where the sensors(cam?) come they the valve covers I have a small leak. Is there supposed to be an o- ring here. The dealer sealed it with ultra gray. There appears to be a hard plastic insert in the cover where the sensor goes thru.
I did check the IMT's they are dry, and my leak appears to be on drivers side.

 

The cam advance solenoids have a soft rubber seal that should be replaced. However that only makes a mess on the top of the valve cover. It is common to use rtv at the joints along the cylinder head where there is a seam.

 

Sounds like they haven't found the actual leak yet!

 

Have you or the dealer cleaned around the oil pan? I had to replace ours around 42,000.

There is a "DIY" with pictures describing the how and why of the procedure. It is found in the "How To" guide here in the S Type subdirectory.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ics-faq-52987/