[yupetc]

Hey, I've dealt with the same problem for ages until I finally used the RTV sealant.

What happened was it started with a small leak, I first replaced the entire valve cover gasket along with valvetronic gasket and the eccentric sensor gasket. Then two months later I start to see black smoke coming out of the seam of my hood, and also noticed burnt oil smell inside the car every time I stop at the red light. It gets worse and worse and it was making a scene out there, quite embarrassing.

Then I cleared up all obstructions until I find the holes under the valvetronic motor to be the culprit, it was storing up oil! I pushed in several paper towels to get those oil out, cleaned up the signs of oil leak, then went on and drove around for a week. Then those holes under the valvetronic are full of oil again. I knew it's that valvetronic gasket leaking.

Similar to what you did, I also tried to replace the new bolts and gasket (replaced 4 times). The forth time got a little better, but the leak still persist, I was very paranoid even with just one drop. Then I gave up, used RTV sealant, and the problem went away for good.