I've had this since I bought my car. My mechanic says it's not severe enought to justify the labor and cost and since this exceeds my capabilities, I just don't know if I want to put this much $ into something that I know is typical on many older cars.
It's not a serious leak, just a few drops a day probably and the oil never seems low.
I was wondering how the oil stop leak works. I've read several guys have used it and it's helped. I typically steer clear of these kind of fixes but I'd try if it could help.
Any thoughts? Oh, 2002 XK8.

 

Just my luck. I literally had just picked up my XK8 after finally finding the coolant smell culprit and an oil burning smell as well. Both were easy fixes and no smell!!
Fast forward to the next day. Siting in bumper to bumper traffic and as we finally sped up and got going, a plastic tarp blew off a landscape truck, went under my car and never emerged!! I knew exactly what happened. It stuck to my exhaust and I pulled over and pulled it off. But now I've got a very strong smell of burning plastic. No smoke jus the melting plastic smell for two weeks now.
I guess I'll have to get under and try to scrape off? I can't catch a break with this car!!! Ugh.

 

Where on the cover is the leak...at the seam with the engine block or at the round solenoids on top of the cover?

 

The VVT solenoid O-ring seal oil leak at the front of the engine cover on both sides of the engine is very common. I just replaced the drivers side O-ring seal a few weeks ago as part of my 90,000-mile service on my wife's 2006 XK8. As noted, they only leak a few drops of oil at a time but that can add up if you let it go for years before addressing the problem. If that is what you have, it is a very easy fix. Just detach the electrical connector, work the leaking O-ring seal out with a small flat-blade screwdriver, wipe up all of the leaked oil (the cleaner you get that area, the lower your chances for a future leak), and press the new O-ring seal firmly into position without damaging it....

 

It's the cover itself. I think it's at the bottom. We've changed the o rings already but it's definately the cover. Ugh.

 

Hi Phil, just a thought, why not clean the area with a solvent like Gunk or a good degreaser, that will give you an idea of if there is any damage. Then check if any of the bolts are loose. If you know where the leak is ( and it sounds like its weeping not leaking ) you may get away with applying some high temperature sealant, the same as is used for gaskets, in clear of course, may just take just a smear to stop it. Fingers crossed.

 

Check to see if any vacuum hoses or breather hoses that connect to the valve covers are clogged with oil. Last year I to clear one with a Q tip; it was causing a leak through the top of oil cap and valve cover gasket.

 

Could be the front crank seal, in the timing chain cover, or……

A few weeks ago I thought I had a leaky front oil seal so I pulled the pulley/damper off and replaced it. as I was cleaning up the old oil and gunk from the cover I noticed a crack in the cover from the seal to the oil pan lip. it appears that someone (not me) screwed the damper puller bolts in hard enough to press on the cover and crack it. you might be able to inspect for this by cleaning up the cover very well and viewing from under the car, but likely wouldn't see it until the damper is removed.

just food for thought,

Russ

 

Phil,
Clean the engine as much as you can then use this

You'll be able to spot the leak source accurately.

 

not sure if the 2002 is the same as the 99 but mine was leaking at the rear bottom of the valve covers . seems this is a notorious leak due to the difficulty of its location.. most people over tighten the bolts here and cause the gasket to crimp. when I replaced both sides I added a dab of permatex to both sides in that area and just tightened those bolts firmly no leaks since .

 

Yeah, we fixed that a while back.