Okay, please bear with me, it was my first time going under my x!

I went under because next weekend I am going to attempt my first oil change. So I was locating the filter and all that good stuff.

At the place where I drain the oil.. around the screw there was this red gum like substance. I have gotten all of my oil changes done at my dealership. Why did they put that there? Does anyone know what it could be? (Oh, and it is only around half of the screw).

Thanks for any help!

If you are absolutely sure that you are looking at the oil pan drain plug, the red stuff might be some sort of sealant to keep oil from leaking around the threads. The oil drain shouldn't need sealant though; there is a copper crush washer on the drain plug that is supposed to do this. It is meant to be replaced every other oil change or so, but some people just reuse the same one.

Yeah, I remember reading some posts that said the washer gets replaced like every other oil change. I guess I should just confront my dealership about it and see what they say. It seems a little weird.

Thanks!

No worries... it is just to seal it. On my old vehicles sometimes I would get red... sometimes I would get a blue. No biggie.

It's just some RTV. Techs will use it sometime to make sure it doesn't leak (or if they don't have the washers...).