Took the car to the garage and when I got there I noticed a smell of burning oil are the known for rocker gasekets as think that's the next thing to get sorted then on to a list of other things I want to get perfect

 

You should put the year and model of your car in your signature.

 

what car?

Can you see any oil visible around the valve covers? breather hoses tend to crack and leak as well. If you don't see anything while looking around, and it repeatedly smells of oil after driving, drive around a bit when it's dark out. When you get home, park somewhere dark and pop the hood, and shine around with a flashlight to try and illuminate the smoke. May help narrow down where it's coming from. Mine was actually smoking a bit from the bell housing area, so under the plastic cover between the bulkheads. Looks like there was some old oil from a previous leak slowly making its way down to exhaust. Least I hope it's an old leak, since I just redid all the gaskets...

 

The vale cover gaskets are known to leak a bit -- especially the right rear area. One of mine gets a little wet .. I wipe it off occasionally.

I would try a very light tighten - up to see if that helps.

IMO ... OE is the only way to go if you purchase.

 

Thanks for that will have a go will get a new one fitted after pay day

 

+1 on Valve cover gaskets. I had the same issue after using non oem gaskets, used to seep out onto the shield above the manifolds. Fitted OEM gaskets from Jaguar and the problem went away.

 

Sorry guys thought I had put the model in my signature will try and sort that now it's a
2002 xj8 executive

 

Are the Valve/Cam cover gasket kit good from the one from RockAuto, Autozone uses the same one Rockauto does. I rather pay $46 then $300 at the Jaguar Dealer.

 

I bought the rockauto one, well let's just say I still smell the Burning oil, and it looked thin compared to the Original gasket.

 

In the past with a particularly troubling case of oil seepage on a 69 SS Camaro, I used a trick
that solved the issue. That being, using double gaskets. I tried cutting my own out of gasket
material, but could never get them quite right.

 

I bought the Mhale version on Amazon, $58 for a complete set. Sealed everything perfectly and no leakage.

 

Hmmmm $58 is not bad...if it works. I know that in many cases i had to straighten out the
area around the screw hole as the screw had been tightened overmuch. I started using
hold down tabs and that seemed to solve a lot of issues. Those will not work on the Duchess
but I would recommend these:
03 2003 Jaguar XJ8 Valve Stem Seal Kit - Engine Mechanical - DNJ Rock, VR Gaskets, Intake and Exhaust - PartsGeek