Comment by spuz
6 years ago
If the story is to be believed then a smart engineer took several days to figure it out while it only took you a minute. I suspect there are other factors than simply being an 'engineer' that will help you arrive at the solution. I personally would never have guessed that store layout would be a factor. However, one question I had immediately was "how do you get home if your car doesn't start?" and if the reply was "I wait and eventually the car starts" then I would probably have closed in on the answer after that.
The situation described is basically a textbook perfect example of heat soak.
If you tell someone with experience repairing vehicles that your car starts fine when cold and find when you shut it off for a short while (e.g. buying gas they are going to nearly instantly hone in on "something is hot that shouldn't be".