passenger hood area very hot

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nugentc
Posts: 40
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 12:40 am

passenger hood area very hot

Post by nugentc »

I'm writing about a 2008 Toyota Matrix. I've been noticing that the passenger side hood area is extremely hot. The engine temperature gauge on the dash is always right in the middle of Hot/Cold like everything is normal.

I did notice that the coolant level is slightly below Full, but nothing major. There doesn't appear to be any leaking radiator fluid or other evidence of a leak under the car. We were told at our last oil change that the radiator hoses were squishy, and I was going to switch those out, but couldn't find any squishy spots myself and opted to let it be for a while. (They usually like to come up with a long list of stuff they want to do that really isn't necessary, so I wondered if that was the case here but perhaps it's related.) Otherwise, the only other oddity is that we've noticed the engine seems to be just a little louder than normal on the highway. Could just be bad tires and road noise, but may be related as well.

Any ideas what might be going on here? We will obviously take it in for an inspection but I want to go into it with some other clues I can look for.
ehoff121
Posts: 756
Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 12:19 am
Location: Conn.

Re: passenger hood area very hot

Post by ehoff121 »

Shot in the dark, but with the increased engine noise, could it be an exhaust leak?
2005 Pontiac Vibe AWD - Platinum
nugentc
Posts: 40
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 12:40 am

Re: passenger hood area very hot

Post by nugentc »

Thanks for your reply! I will report back with what the shop says it is after tomorrow.
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