I have a very slow oil leak on the back of the valve cover, drivers side, the one with the oil pipe connected. The oil is dripping onto the exhaust and the wife said the smell needs to go!!

I had the vale tensioners replace 2 years ago and used non jaguar gaskets. I am now going to fit Jaguar gaskets to hopefully clear the problem.

Question: when reading the FAQ's it says "the red gasket goes on the Left Hand cover, the gray one on the Right Hand side.
Is the the LHS, the drivers side? OR
Is it standing in front of the car looking towards the engine? (as in the UK?)

Many thanks,

 

For Jaguar, regardless of where you are in the World, LH is your left as you sit in the driver's seat looking forwards.

I've never purchased an OE Jaguar valve cover gasket in anything but black. I believe the Ford equivalents are coloured.

Graham

 

Convention in automotive service is left and right is from the point of view of the driver seated in the car. So in the US, left is the driver's side.

However, it appears you may have the wrong gaskets. Your 2001 has the AJ27 engine and both gaskets should be black. The gaskets for the AJ26 engine were red and gray.

 

I have not purchased the gaskets yet, just reading the info on the FAQ's.
What gasket sealant would you recommend for the 2 areas that need it?

Many thanks for your "instant response"

 

Just a dab of oil resistant RTV on each seam, such as Permatex Ultra Black.

 

This may be a stupid question, but, do I need to remove all 4 spark plugs to remove the LHS valve cover to replace the gasket??

 

You must remove the coils but don't have to remove the plugs.

However, if you have oil in the plug wells, it's the easiest way to clean them.

Graham

 

Many thanks for all your help.