:confused: When I turn the hot water on is starts scorching hot for about 4 seconds, then it goes to barely room temperature. I was wondering if anyone knew what the problem could be.

I stole this out of an answer in plumbing. I think it had a lot more to do with your problem than with the thread I found it in.

''People often wonder what causes a rumbling sound in their water heater. The two most likely scenarios are breakage of the dip tube and sediment leakage. In the first scenario, the dip tube in the cold water supply inlet is supposed to run to within three or four inches of the bottom of the water heater.

When you turn on the hot water, it forces cold water to the bottom of the heater, which drives hot water out of the heater. If that dip tube deteriorates or breaks off half way into the tank, the capacity of hot water is cut in half, and the cold water meets that hot water, thus causing the rumbling sound.''

You should be able to remove the cold water pipe, and pull the tube out with your finger.

I copied it from https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/plumbing/water-heater-pilot-light-problems-40967.html

Broken dip tube is the most common answer to this complaint as Labman said.

These dip tubes are made of some kind of plastic and when they deteriorate they break up into little small pieces and float on top of the hot water in the water heater, so as you replace the dip tube I suggest that you run lots of hot water out of the faucets in your house that do not have aerators or screens on them, and it is very possible that you have noticed a slowing down of water pressure to your faucets and washing machine or dish washer.