1999 xj 4.0l
I replaced the gasket on it when I bought it and once I replaced the oil pan gasket the oil pressure went up and it revealed a leak, a very noticeable leak, I just replaced it with a new gasket tonight and it's still leaking at the rear of the valve cover, I torqued it to 17lbft and worked from middle out on the bolts and I need ideas what I can do

Did u use a Fel-Pro silicone/rubber gasket?
I'm not sure if that's the correct torque spec.

Yes felpro silicone blue gasket, everything I looked up said 17lbft

I always saw 7 ft lbs.

I must've been reading it wrong, I just went out and pulled the cover off and torqued everything down to 7lbft, it's still leaking like crazy. Not just a few drops but constant dripping onto the exhaust pipe

I would pull it apart again and make sure all the grommets are seated properly and the gasket is seated properly. It sounds like gasket shifted when you were tightening them down.

I pulled the old grommets off and put the new grommets in and then installed the metal pieces into the grommets then put the cover on, when you say shifted, what do you mean? The gasket has those holes that go over the metal coming up from the head that holds it in place how could it shift?

The locating pins are kinda far apart. When I did mine a section did slide inside but I noticed it so there was no leak.

What's the best way to keep it from shifting

No idea it just didn't the decode time I placed it. If you wan to see if its in place before taking it apart you should be able to see it just poking out past the edge of the valve cover.

Are we talking about the valve cover or oil pan? I used the same felpro gaskets (rubber) for both but only the oil pan came with grommets.

I would make sure all the old gasket material is removed especially the old rtv. Sometimes its hard to tell between the rtv and bare metal of the head. Also, make sure the actual valve cover or oil pan isn't actually bent. Sometimes when breaking the cover/pan loose you can inadvertently bend the cover/pan.

On the oil pan, its recommended to use rtv on the edges of where the rear main seal and on the front where it 'dips'. Bleeping jeep channel on youtube has a good video on changing the oil pan gasket and rear main seal.

I have changed both valve cover and oil pan, my valve cover gasket came with new grommets my oil pan gasket didn't (both are the blue silicone felpro gaskets), I did use rtv on oil pan gasket in those upper spots that are by the rms area and the crank pulley, I didn't have to use any kind of excess force to remove the valve cover or oil pan so I don't think they're bent at all, and I made sure once removed I used a gasket scraper and rag with brake cleaner to clean up both surfaces before putting on the new gaskets i think it's my valve cover gasket abs so dots the shop I took it to, but after retorquing those bolts twice now and absolutely nothing changing

I would suspect the valve cover is slightly bent along flange. They are thin and its flange needs to be closely inspected to insure it is flat.

Well I actually checked it this morning before work and the rear of the head was dry, so my valve cover isn't leaking apparently, but the bell housing is covered in oil so now I'm leaning towards oil pan gasket

Be aware that the back (firewall end) cover bolt holes are blind holes, i.e., they are not drilled through like the rest of the holes. It is possible to get oil in the blind holes and when tightening the bolts down they will 'hydraulic' against the oil in the holes. You may think they are tight but they aren't.


I blow out the blind holes with brake cleaner then blow out the holes with compressed air before installing the bolts.


The bolts are 1" long which makes the back holes even worse to deal with. I have cut down those back bolts to 3/4" to make sure they have enough grip to tighten down.