If you look at the top of the engine, it looks like there is a filter. However, the air filter is off to the drivers side(off the edge of this photo. What is that on the top? I know this sounds like a stupid question, but I'm really confused.

 

...thats the intercooler for the turbo.

 

New to turbo cars huh harlenm? As Mmike said that is the Top mount intercooler for your RDX. You can clean it by unscrewing the 4 plastic screws then lighty dusting it off. Be careful to not damage the fragile fins of the IC, probably better off using am aerosol air duster to blow away any debris like that insect you got wedged in there.

 

ah here it is - a good pic of my misery!!! guys, any of you encounter this issue? any ideas how we can make our intercooler fins as brand new and bent free as it can be?

ive had to clean my intercooler that's 50x more "bugged" LOL (eg. more leaves, bugs, etc) as i live in the "woods". should i bother "unbending" the fins as much as i can after i cleaning it (it is really hard NOT to bend the fins)?

thanks for being patient on this fixation to perfect the intercooler fins!

 

only if your mechanicly inclined would i recomend this...

to clean remove and flush with water from the backside. drain and clean inside. and to straighten the fins use a radiator fin rake you have to be carefull with it. but mind you the turbocharged air is not flowing through the small fins its going through the bigger fins that flow that are orintated front to back.

 

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...2818-P_N3569_T#

 

thanks dkswim. i wont bother risking the cleaning/unbending then next time around. i guess not critical at all for performance?

out of curiosity, you mentioned that turbocharged air is ''flowing through the bigger fins orientated front to back'' - can one see that in the pic? arent the small fins on the "front" in the posted pic?

net advice fm you just to clarify: dont sweat it next time, not critical for performance, just aesthetically unpleasing. is this correct?

 

Correct effect on performance in negligible. you should periodical clear out leaves and bugs and rinse down regularly.

You can see the grid set up on the intercooler. the turbocharged air is flowing through the bigger fins that are orientated front to rear. the small fins orientated left to right should look like little "Z" are where the outside air flows threw.

 

thanks dkswim, yes i did notice the longitudinal bigger "fins" (more like a vertical coil) where the air flows through vs. the Z shaped thinner smaller fins after looking at the intercooler again (btw, some of these smaller fins are more pliable vs the rest depending on their location).

im good to go after unbending some of the bent ones too with a tweezer. i guess no avoiding these "mini-bends" after leaves and bugs splat through their way in (i dont intend to put in a screen mesh nor whatsoever, eg. ill leave it in its original state) but good to know this is "normal".

thanks again!

 

I use my shop vac with a soft brush attachment, and the bugs seem to clean quite easy.

 

I used the same thing. just vacum it....

 

+1 Brush Shop Vac!

 

I recently took the intercooler cover off and cleaned out all the bugs, but I accidentally bent a few of fins. Is this ok, or did I do any damage? Please advise.

 

should be no problem. If you are anal you could straighten them with a small flathead screwdriver, or radiator rake

now while you had the cover off did you tighten your boost tubes?

 

Thanks for this! I found another Acura forum site that wasn't as um... informative. Or friendly. Y'all are more like what I'm used to, over @ benzworld.org