I was recently involved in a minor fender bender a couple of weeks back. Luckily, my RX only suffered minor damage to the front bumper. While waiting to get this fixed, I am noticing a larger than usual amount of dirt in the engine compartment (on the battery, air filter box, and caps for the various fluids). Could this be caused by dirt being kicked up into the engine compartment through the damaged bumper as I drive it?

 

I have my RX's engine steam-cleaned down here. There is so much garbage flying around that it is bound to get inside the engine compartment sooner or later. Take a look on the driver's side front...do you see how small an opening it is for the air intake? You would be surprised at how much stuff I find stuck in my air filter or in the bottom of the air box. I guarantee you there are other holes below in the car and the stuff can kick up.

 

It's hard to imagine a bumper problem causing such excessive dirt on the engine. What type of roads do you drive?

My '99 had a lot of dust and dirt, but only after a few years. I plan to keep this one much cleaner. It's pretty clean after 7 months in sandy NJ.

 

I only drive on asphalt and concrete roads. I check under the hood prettty regularly, and I only noticed this problem after I had my accident. I am also noticing a slightly larger gap beween the hood and the headlight on the passenger side when I compare it to the driver's side. I can stick my finger through on the passenger side, but not on the driver side. If it's not coming in through the bumper, could it be entering through this gap, or do all RX300's have this gap?

 

Mine does not have a gap anywhere near that wide, maybe yours got misaligned.

 

Are you referring to the hood or the headlight being out of alignment? The hood did not receive any of the impact from the collision. However, replacement of the headlight and realignment was included in the estimate; the hood wasn't.

 

CF, all I can tell you is that there is no place I can put my finger between the hood and the headlight except near the base of the headlight where the hood is recessed by design.

Try cleaning the engine and see if it occurs again, stay away from those off road mud pits too!