Snow under the hood

This seems to happen most when there's wind and powdery snow. Wet snow tends to block the ventilation holes in the corner where the hood meets the windshield and stop there, but powder can just pile in. It also doesn't help that one line of defense blocking snow from the windshield going under the hood, the cheap molding, is already coming off.





Should I be concerned? If so, any suggestions? Thanks.

PS. Maybe I can move to somewhere with covered parking, but it's too late for this Winter.

Maybe use a car cover that only allows moisture to go out, not in??? How about a Wet/Dry Vac to get the snow out.

I am in Sunny (only up to 72*f today, so a little cool) San Diego so do not know much about snow except what I see when I open my chest type freezer.

We have a cover to use if we ever have to park in the sun.

WOW!!! I park in the garage at night but during the day it's outdoors. Last winter and this winter have been thick wet snows not light powder so I haven't seen anything like that.

How about using pipe insulation (looks like gray or black versions of a swimming noodle at varying thicknesses) commonly used for grill blocking and adding it to fill the gaps on the side of the hood better?

You'd probably only have to block the upper / flatter section to reduce cross airflow.

Hmmm. I might be a little concerned about damage over time caused by repeated freezing and thawing of moisture around various components. On the other hand, if most everything stays below freezing, there's probably no need to be concerned.

I would just keep the hood closed

Wow, must be some high winds and very light (powdery) snow --- assume you have a later model LEAF as the early ones ('11's and '12's) has a snow shield retrofitted as part of a recall, etc. early on the car was getting snow packed underneath it while driving which wasn't of course good for it. Here in the Midwest and even back when I lived in NY and NH never recall seeing this kind of snow under the hood but then again never had call to really look at that --- ours charges nightly in a semi-heated garage so this type of snow build up would be quite rare and would have to happen during the day while parked outside at work. Our neighbors use car covers for the cars they keep outside -- I'd say get a cheap one for those nights were you expect this kind of snow; as long as it doesn't freeze to the car you should be OK just a precaution.

I've only had mine a week now, so I'm admittedly new here, but I have noticed the same thing with the snow. I was going to grill the dealer about it when I bring it back for the heater issues and the yellow master warning light has been on since I pulled off the lot...

I wouldn't worry about it. You'll be amazed how much water gets under there when you drive through rain. Snow is even less of an issue.

kubel said:

I wouldn't worry about it. You'll be amazed how much water gets under there when you drive through rain. Snow is even less of an issue.

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I wouldn't be worried about the snow/water. I'd be worried about the cold air.

It increases wind resistance (very small amount) and it lowers the efficiency of the cabin heater (bigger issue).