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A customer at my old shop in Tacoma swore his 'check engine' light only came on after dark.

He was dead serious, and after wasting an hour checking for phantom electrical issues, I found a massive vacuum leak that was just easier to hear in the quiet evening.
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3 Comments
chen.phoenix
chen.phoenix9d agoTop Commenter
People notice weird patterns when something's already wrong. His brain latched onto the time of day because that's when he drove home in silence. The real clue was the quiet environment making the leak obvious.
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rileygonzalez
Reminds me of my buddy who only heard his fridge buzzing at night. Turned out his AC was drowning it out all day.
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jasonc77
jasonc777d ago
Disagree completely. Sometimes the pattern itself is the problem, not just a clue. His brain focused on the time because that's when the pressure changed in the pipes. The quiet just let him hear the effect of the real issue.
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