02 chrysler T&C with hot hood and front side panels
 

PLEASE HELP!
I recently purchased an '02 Town and Country and have had soooo many problems with it. I purchased it about a month ago from the auto auction. Since, it has been in several shops with a day or two between needing to be towed back. Making us crazy and very poor. The most recent fix was the evaporator...very expensive to replace.

I digress...Since we purchased after driving it for about half an hour or more, the hood and side fenders get very very hot. The temperature guage only goes about half way up so doesn't show real overheating. Yet the parts mentioned get so hot you can barely touch it and stays hot for many hours after turning it off. It even smells hot but not like anything burning (we fixed the loose wires on the harness which were melting previously) It is hot where I live (in the 90's) and we keep the air conditioner on the whole time we drive. It does not sit in the sun and we garage it. I am not sure what would cause this but not show up on the temperature guage. Thought maybe the guage was broken, but it starts out at the bottom of the dial and goes up about half way after driving a little.
Would appreciate any help. Very desperate at this point! Thanks!

get a infrared gun and measure the temp on the places U are wanting to address
then measure the engine in places as well U should have about 210 or so even on the hood and fenders.