You're describing the classic symptoms of a failing crankshaft position sensor or camshaft position sensor. This type of failure is real common on all car brands. Both sensors often fail by becoming heat-sensitive, then they work again after cooling down for about an hour.
When you're driving, natural air flow keeps the sensors cool. When you stop with a hot engine, that heat migrates up to the sensors, causing them to fail. We call that "hot soak".
The problem is the Engine Computer is able to detect when one of those sensor signals is missing, and it can set a diagnostic fault code, but that usually doesn't happen just from cranking the engine. The computer needs more time to detect the problem, as when a stalled engine is coasting to a stop. For that reason, many mechanics overlook the cause because of there being no fault code.
The solution when there's no fault code to get us started is to connect a scanner to view live data during cranking. Both sensors will be listed with a "No" or "Present" to indicate if their signals are showing up at the computer. When one stays on "No" during cranking, it is the cause of the no-start about half of the time. First we have to rule out wiring and connector terminal problems, however, based on your observation of how this acts, it's a pretty good bet it's due to the sensor itself.
The next problem is to verify this, the mechanic has to be watching the scanner while the problem is occurring. Typically that means leaving the car with him. You might try getting the engine warmed up, then stopping in his parking lot. If the problem acts up then, he is going to have to drop everything and run out right away before the sensors cool down.
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Friday, April 12th, 2019 AT 7:24 PM
