I think this depends on the user very quickly loading the repo page and then pasting a filename into the locate box? Waiting a few seconds after page load before pasting the file name usually seems to trigger the typeahead as expected (but still not every time).
Repro by pasting "PhabricatorPackagesEditor.php" into the search here: https://secure.phabricator.com/source/phabricator/
Chrome Version 57.0.2987.133 (64-bit) on Mac OS 10.12.4