I took my 2012 Jaguar L SuperSport in for an oil change at my local mechanic (highly reviewed / great shop). They did a visual inspection and noted that the valve covers are leaking oil (see pictures). I have 39k miles on this car so I rarely drive it. The leak does not seem to be that bad. Here's my question: Should I replace it now ($2,500) estimate or wait until this worsens? I only drive about 3-4k miles per year so I do not have immediate urgency.

 

Looks like oil pan to me?
Best is to clean all the oil off and watch where it comes back first.
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No, I think it is an actual picture of the valve.

 

I'm with Club here. You are looking at the sump and not the valve covers....the CAT and exhaust only go bellow the engine bay..

wombat

 

Interesting. It seems like a very slow leak and that the leak would be more likely to be at the sump - versus from the valves. I wonder why they wouldn't clean it first and then see where the leak is. Thanks for your reply.

 

Please circle the valve??
No your way off. Again clean ALL the oil off and watch where it comes back. There is no other way to do this and taking pictures with your phone does not do anything?
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Ask them to clean it off, and use UV dye in the oil. Or I believe if you're getting dealer oil the Castrol used in the dealer supply chain already has dye in it.

I have some oil loss/consumption. I just live with it knowing I have to add a quart between oil changes. I'm not going to tear apart my drivetrain to look at my rear main seal unless the consumption increases. I'm maintaining my PCV valves this weekend, as I noticed that seems to be a more visible source of old oil stains, the only visible dye I saw was minor seepage between my engine/transmission. The rest could be consumption.

 

Thank you, that's great advice!

 

I'm pretty sure that if you guys read through earlier posts, you'll find where oil leaks on the 5.0 engines are, and what those who have found them have done about them.
I know when mine started leaking I found some good info in existing posts - as with a few problems. That's one of the benefits of a forum that doesn't delete posts after they age.
If you're offended or wonder why I haven't taken a stab at answering the question, I have no idea what valve would be leaking oil, and I'd have to re-create the whole history of oil leak posts to offer what I might think it is instead of what the O.P. might be describing (which could be something valid & novel, so I'd be on the learning side of that fence).

If you have a new problem, you might get more knowledgeable replies, but for some members that see posts that ask repeat questions of old discussions (multiple and in-depth for some topics), well, the ones who have answered them repeatedly sometimes may grow tired of answering them repeatedly, or just not see the post.
But for what it's worth, I'm pretty sure that isn't a picture of a valve (thinly-veiled attempt at a tactfully tasteful understatement).

Looking forward to learning where this potentially new source of an oil leak might be.
Mine were at the much-discussed vacuum pump and the valve cover gaskets.