Cam cover gasket?

About 6 months ago I experienced the usual Zetec plug in oil syndrome and replaced my cover gasket. At that time I mentioned to others that they might want to pick up some gasket in a tube or some tacky substance to help stick the gasket to the cover since my gasket (Felpro) would only stick in the groves of the cover at the corners. When I tried to turn it over to place the cover on the head the gasket would droop down and not stay in place. Several said that was nonsense and you did not need anything to stick it to the cover with.

Now I'm having a very small oil leak at the front of the head. Its not going into the well for the plugs but down the front. My question is, since my gasket did not fit like everyone else's could it have been undersized since it should not be leaking oil after only 6 months?

Didn't seat it right. Get a new one, set it in place, once you have it to where you need to start putting in the screws, examine the valve cover gasket and make sure none of it is exposed, pinched, etc. Then tighten all the screws hand tight...then torque them down.

Can be a little tricky, just takes a little patience.

Be sure to clean up the mating surfaces of the head and the valve cover good. I had to use some silicone on mine, but it was mainly due to the fact that some of those things around the bolts were missing.

Thanks for the replies but I did all that. That gasket was right in the groove and the surfaces were clean. My question is, should the gasket have been thick enough to be held by the groves when I turned it over to place on the head. Odviously everyone elses were are they would have had to tacky it in place like I did mine. I must have had the only cover gasket that was so thin that the grooves would not hold it in place.