Ok, hello everyone! Well yesterday out of no where when I got into the HHR (2006) I started it up and I heard this hissing sound but it sounds like its coming from like inside just below the steering wheel below. At first of course when you hear that hissing sound it sounded just like there was a flat tire in which it wasn't (I kind of wish it was that instead) because the sound stops when I turn the car off. I drove the car the day before and it was working fine but I did pop the hood and see if I could hear the same sound but I didn't hear it but I did it hear it from inside the car very loud. The sound stops the more I accelerate and I did a lot of research and the research tells me it could be about 5 or 6 different things. I kind of thought it was some type of hose that got loose when I was driving on the highway because this happened after I did a few miles out of town. Mind you, I do have a "kill switch" on the car to where the dealership turns the car off you don't make that old fashion payment on time and I started to think that it could have been that maybe the kill switch went bad or hit some type of bump an knocked it out of place slightly.

The reason why I say its just below the steering wheel is because you can tell that where ever the air is coming from is hitting that panel and you can really hear it good. It get's scary sometimes doing research on repair problems for your car because there's all types of possibility to where you wanna try and fix the problem first before you go to a mechanic. By the way I've had bad experiences with mechanics in which is why I'm doing more research than just taking it to a shop. I think I'm gonna open the panel tomorrow right under the steering wheel and see where the sound is coming from but my gut feeling is telling me if it isn't the "kill switch" malfunctioning then it's gotta be some type of hose hopefully it's only loose and that's it.

Hopefully somebody's had the same issue I'm having instead of different issues it could be. With that being said, any suggestions here lol? Thank you in advance.

 

Welcome to the site

The first thing that comes to mind is the exhaust flex pipe has a leak. I would inspect that first.

 

First thing to my mind is : if you suspect the kill switch go ask the person that installed it.

 

X2 on the above suggestions, and Welcome to the site!

 

aboard!

X2 to Lucky's supposition, check or have the exhaust flex pipe checked.

Another possibility is a vacuum leak at the power brake booster.

The "Buy Here, Pay Here" kill switches are electronic devices designed to cut power to the ECM or disable the ignition, there's nothing there to "hiss". Just a little box full of electronic guts.