Leak? Normal? Under car advice needed...
 

My '01 reached 5,900 miles today - I had planned to do an oil change before putting it away for the winter soon... got the car up on the ramps and rolled under the car to drain the oil and was surprized to see the following sights under the engine area.

It is a dark honey color mostly and not "oily" feeling - actually slightly tacky. Seems to be coming from (or applied?) starting from the front of the car. Appears heaviest at a point in front of and behind the oil pan but carries as far back as the lower rear wheel control arm and the rear of the tranny near the front of the muffler.

Can someone familiar with the Boxster underside tell me if this normal? Is there an undercoating or something similar applied to Boxsters? Or do I have an issue on my hands?

BTW, there are no spots on the garage floor and I haven't noticed any significant change in the oil level 'til now...

I held off on the oil change today in case I've got a dealer issue here... would appreciate any advice on this!

More photos...

More photos...

Last one - fuzzy, but shows how far back this goes...

What has your fluid use been? Specifically, have you added any oil? Athough, this does not look like oil to me.

Have you contaced your dealer with this problem?

Looks like cosmoline to me, which is a coating that is sprayed on to protect metal parts b/f the car is shipped. After heat and age it turns a brownish color. I see no oil leaks in your pictures.

Jeff

Follow-up/update:

Thanks to the generosity of Ed (ehljags), there was a chemical analysis done on the "dark honey stuff" under my car -- shown in the photos above.

Bottom line, no oil present. Basic composition in line with a preservative (like Cosmoline) - Jeff nailed it!

So you can now consider these to be decent reference photos of aged Cosmoline...