With 130.000 miles on the XJ6 it was time to change the cam cover. I obtained one off ebay that was at least a lot better than the one I had. I then had it repainted in a good custom body shop with epoxy paint and clear coated in an attempt to stop the corrosion of the magnesium. I don't have pictures but will add those later. When I removed the coils all spark plug holes had oil in them. One had so much oil that you couldn't see the plug. A turkey baster and lots of soaking removed the oil. I had replaced all gaskets due to leakage at about 75000 miles.

Why they leaked so much is a mystery except that I took the advice of the Jag parts and shop place where i bought the gaskets and put them in dry. I will not do that again for sure. The cover leaked oil on the right rear corner and into the plug holes. I'm still in the preparation process, but plan to use a thin layer high head resistant black silicone on all mating surfaces. Would like any comments on doing this.

I'll get pictures of the covers and engine on my next trip to the hangar where I'm doing the work. I'll take my camera this time.

Comments please.

 

Last summer I couldn't stand seeing my cam cover in it's sorry state as that was the
only thing holding me back from popping the hood to those who were curious
so I finally took it all apart and had the cam cover, bolts, and supercharger
duct work silica blasted then powder coated metallic silver. I also
went ahead and had the fuel rail and coil cover painted body colour;
Ice Blue. 8 months later it looks the same - on the outside anyway.

I had some oil in 3 spark plug wells. I replaced the coil
gaskets dry but I used the sealant pictured below for the cam cover
gasket tightened to proper torque with no leak issues.

 

I also used Hi-Temp RTV on mine.

I applied it to both faces of the outer seal, and also the plug tube seals.

I pre cleaned the whole thing, including the head face with p/pack solvent (Carby Cleaner) to ensure NO oil residue was present to mess with the "stickability" of the RTV.

I also fitted a 1mm thick fibre washer under the head of the "stepped" bolts to give that extra 1mm of "crush" to those seals.

NO oil anywhere but inside the engine where it belongs. That was 3 years ago and it is still dry.

 

When you say you applied the RTV to "the plug tube seals", do you mean the RTV was applied on the face of the seal so that it would be between the head and the seal (as shown in the area of the red arrows in the photo below)? (Disregard the red circle in the photo showing the corrosion/separation on the old/bad cover).

 

Keep us posted, Bob. I've started looking for a spare cover to do the same.
Shaune, yours looks great!

 

Try this:

Gasket Sealants : Permatex® PermaShield? Fuel Resistant Gasket Dressing & Flange Sealant

It seems to be resistant to all the things you want it to be resistant to...like gasoline and oil.