RE: No Fuel
 

Grannyami,

It is not uncommon for an engine that has been run out of gas to not start. It is very common for debris in the fuel to precipitate out of the solution in your gas tank; leaving you with a fine sediment in the bottom of the tank (you've got 15 years worth). As the tank gets emptier, the concentration of sediment in your gas increases. As the tank runs dry, you've been pumping very high concentrations of sediment contaminated gas from the tank. The fuel filter's job is to remove these particles of sediment. The more sediment the fuel filter removes, the more stopped up the filter becomes. It is very common for the fuel filter to become clogged after the tank of car (particularly one with 15 years of sediment in the tank) has run dry. I replace my fuel filters every sixty thousand miles.

The most common symptom of a stopped up fuel filter is that the car won't start. If it's allowed to sit for an hour or more, it may start for a second or two and then die. I would encourage you to replace the fuel filter before looking at the fuel pump. If that doesn't fix your problem and if your filter hadn't been replaced in the last sixty thousand miles, it needed to be replaced anyway; so it's neither time nor money wasted.

Good luck.

RE: No Fuel
 

He's got a point, it is much easier (and cheaper) to start with the filter.

RE: No Fuel
 

Yes, I found this out the hard way after my girlfriend let her car run empty.
Took ages to fire. Pity I didn't know about turning the key on and off repeately.
I'll keep it in mind for the next time she gets stranded again,
cheers,
chrisdevey

RE: No Fuel
 

I had checked the lines going into the fuel filter at the firewall. No gas getting that far. I do not hear the fuel pump come on. I have tried the "turn on key wait then turn off" several different times. There is a fuel (filter) strainer in the tank...is that probably clogged? I am probably going to have to take it to the shop and hope I don't get burned. I am not able to keep trying to walk and public transit where I live doesn't go where I work.

RE: No Fuel
 

tried taking battery cable off for over 5 min to restart computer...then tried spraying starting fluid in engine...will not start...spark plugs may not be firing...mechanic said it could be the electronic ignition computer ...but it does try to turn over...another mechanic said if the car does anything at all it is not the computer...who knows...open to any suggestions

RE: No Fuel
 

A car will still turn over even if the comp is screwed. Have you tried replacing the fuel pump yet? (Sorry bad memory) There IS a filter on the end of the fuel pump in the tank. It's a small strainer type. So there is a possibility of that being bad. How much do you know about using electrical test equipment? If you have a test light you could find out if there is electricity getting to the pump. Also where did you spray the starting fluid? If I'm not mistaken you have an injected engine and you'll need to take the hose off the intake, open the butterfly valve and spray the starting fluid in past the butterfly valve. But if you're not getting fuel to the filter then that is the first problem needing addressed. You should take the line off the fuel filter from the gas tank side and try starting the car and seeing if you get any gas. Might also go ahead and replace the filter while you're that far. Let me know what happens and I'll try to help from there.

RE: No Fuel
 

already tried taking fuel line off just before it goes into the filter at the firewall...no gas came out. thanks for the info on the starting fluid...i'm pretty sure the guy just took off the deal where the air goes in and sprayed there. i saw what he did...an accordion type deal he unclamped then sprayed the area toward where the air would go into the engine. it tries to turn over but won't start...then he took off the spark plug wire stuck a screwdriver in it and laid it down...said there was no spark. hard to tell if the screwdriver was still touching the end of the plug wire at that point. will replace the fuel pump and let you know...

RE: No Fuel
 

Quite frankly telling him there is NO fuel going to the engine why is he BOTHERING with the spark?? I mean logically I would think that the first thing to deal with is the lack of gas. If it was an actual mechanic that looked at the car I"m going to tell you right now that he's telling you this crap to get you to spend more $. The engine merely ran out of gas. Should have NO effect on any other part of the electrical system at all. I know they're gonna tell you you need plugs and wires right off the bat. I used to work for a shop that did that shyt (Why do you think I quit there and am posting help here now?). Good luckk and let me know what happens after you replace the pump and strainer in the tank.

RE: No Fuel
 

you do indeed have a 50/50 chance of ruining the fuel pump when you let it run dry. if you knno how to remove it, which isnt hard, id just replace it anyway, you can get a new one for $90 and I dont really know what else it could possibly be.

RE: No Fuel
 

Grammyami,

On cars that won't start after running out of gas, I've fixed a dozen or so by replacing the fuel filters (on a Cadillac Seville just last week). I've replaced less than a handful of fuel pumps to fix this problem. I've explained above what happens to a fuel filter when the tank runs dry - they get stopped up. I would really encourage you to replace the fuel filter first. It's cheap ($10-$20), it's easy, if it hasn't been replaced within the last 60k miles it needs to be replaced anyway, and there's a 70% probability that it's your problem.

Good luck, Jeff