Next project: Valve cover gaskets
 

Now that my coolant leak is fixed, it's time to shift my attention to these leaking valve cover gaskets. For those who have tackled this job before (my Jag is a '99 XJ8), I am curious about some of the things you have run into. One thing I noticed is that in the gasket kits there are two gaskets for each side, plus a lot of smaller ring gaskets. I have no idea where all this stuff goes. Any tips would be appreciated.

RE: Next project: Valve cover gaskets
 

The smaller gaskets go around the spark plugs. You will see where they fit into the cover once you remove it. The other are for the variable valve timing sensors.

http://www.motorcarsltd.com/item.wws?sku=IN106762

RE: Next project: Valve cover gaskets
 

Assuming you have the later style gaskets, you will have LH and RH cam cover gaskets, 8 spark plug seals, 4 seals for the center bolts and you should replace all the bolt seals for the cover (14 per side) as they will leak also.

RE: Next project: Valve cover gaskets
 

All Jaguar,

Is that Bill, Billy or Gina?

RE: Next project: Valve cover gaskets
 

As always, we will be here to walk you through it.

RE: Next project: Valve cover gaskets
 

I just did this exact same job on my 1998 xjr, with much help from 'FactoryJaguarTech' (Thanks man!) - one piece of advice I have for anyone considering doing this is: DON'T BUY GASKETS FROM AUTOPARTS WAREHOUSE!!! I'm not trying to slander anyone or anything, but the gaskets I bought from them were not "OE" as promised - they simply just didn't fit the car (at least 1/2 inch too long, with misplaced curves). I'm in the process of returning them - we'll see if I actually get my $$ back. The spark plug boss seals fit, however, and stopped my oil leak - so all was not lost.

RE: Next project: Valve cover gaskets
 

I buy parts from one place: British Parts, where Ken works. I get a good price and great parts (often genuine Jaguar parts that the dealer would charge me a lot more for). Thanks for the tip, though. Sometimes it is just as valuable to know where not to shop.

RE: Next project: Valve cover gaskets
 

i have just carried out this job on my 1999 4ltr XJ8 , being a 1999 engine it is the AJ27 over the original AJ26 engine originally specified for the XJ, this has a small but significant difference to the cam cover gaskets,

the 1999 engine has handed cam cover seals along with separate spark plug well and mounting bolt seals, being a 4ltr it also has the top mounted VVT solenoids on the cover chain ends, each requiring a reinforced sealing ring, a grand total of 16 seals ( 6 on the AJ26....spark plug and fixing bolts seals are joined )

all the seals are known to get hard after a few years, this will be evident by oil leaking into the plug wells and also down onto the chrome manifold covers under the cam covers, i had this on my 90k mile car....
a complete seal kit from Jaguar cost me £80 UK ,

its a pop to change the seals , but make sure you fit the right cam gasket to the right cam cover, they do have different part numbers ,

hope this helps someone out,

btw, my first post on this forum, been looking around and its good to be here, i will post pics and text of my timing chain tensioner project in a new thread, i did it all myself with all new parts for £180 UK,,,,,,,keep an eye out

BB:)

how was the experience, was it difficult? im afraid ima have to delve into the same project. im planning on doing a diy to save some bucks.

I recently did my 2ndry tensioners, MAF cleaning, throttle body, part load breather and valve cover gaskets all at the same time..... I started off with this procedure...

http://www.maxperformancecars.com/dm...Clean_MAFS.pdf

this got me a good step of the way to removing the valve cover gaskets, as this procedure gets the air tubing out of the way. I then used the JTIS for the valve cover removal procedure. How to get JTIS is in the stickys I think, but even if you didn't have JTIS, it's pretty straightforward. You can see all of the bolts that hold the cam covers down. Remove the covers over the coil packs, then remove the coil packs (Keep them in order and put them back in the same order you took them out in). Then loosen all of the bolts holding the cam covers on. There are various wiring looms that run around the cam covers that are clipped on to it.... you have to remove these also. They just push out. The dipstick was the trickiest part. It bolts on to the cam cover and you have to wiggle it about a bit to get the cam covers to come off around it. I have a supercharger and I managed to get the covers off and on pretty easily without breaking into the coolant lines, which was the JTIS procedure. As mentioned before, the cover gaskets are sided, so make sure you put them on the correct side. There was a lot of discussion about whether you should put sealant on..... according to JTIS you are supposed to put a small drop of sealant on one part of the gasket where the block joins on the the tensioner housing, but after reading lots of other informed posts from the Jag Techs, I didn't and so far (1000+ miles later) everything is bone dry. Very important is to use a torque wrench when reassembling and to tighten the cover bolts in the correct order, basically starting in the middle and working in a spiral towards the outside. Torque is 9 - 11 Nm.

Probably the most critical part of this job is the correct torque on the cam cover bolts. The cam cover is plastic and, even though the mounting bolts have steel sleeves, I've seen some "muscle" these down, crush the sleeve, deform the plastic cover, and cause a new seal to be destroyed and leak...GENTLY...and the CORRECT TORQUE!

BTW - the second most critical part of the job is picking the correct seal kits (AJ26 v. AJ27); although, I've successfully used AJ26 seals on an AJ27 with some slight modifications of the cam cover seal and a reduced torque of 7nm.

It is very helpful knowing that there is a difference between the AJ26 and AJ27 gaskets. I will have to remember that when checking eBay for the seals.

Thanks again.