Yellow dabs of paint?

I recently purchase a 2009 Legacy, and I noticed under the hood are little yellow dots of paint on several components. It looks like someone was checking stuff off with a yellow paint pen, maybe for inspection purposes?

That is correct.

I was just explaining this to a customer of mine who just had a new engine installed by a up and coming shop. I showed him that its a sign of people who double check their work and dont assume they got it all right because they have been doing it for years.

 

People make mistakes and miss things the first time around. A proper checklist and double check method shows it was probably done right and these oversights still get fixed before the car rolls out of the shop

 

Dave

Ok, that makes sense. Good to see I suppose. One other thing I noticed, while I was checking the coolant level in the overflow tank, I saw what looks like some black paint on the overflow tank, and a little on the a/c lines that are near it, but not on any other components around that area. It also looks like it would have to be put on in awkward angles. I suppose its possible its not even paint. Any ideas on this?

If you could post a pic of your engine, this would help.

X3 on the inspection paint.

Overspray from an undercoating job maybe?

Inspection paint.