my girlfriend'* car ran out of gas on thursday and died. We put some gas from a container into the tank, and now the motor won't start. it will crank, and that'* it. Her dad said it'* flooded, and cranked it WOT for a while, and i did too later, but we just can't get it to start.

Any suggestions or things to look for?

When you put the car in the run position, not start, do you hear the fuel pump?

How much gas did you put in the tank? Some cars require at least a couple of gallons for the pump to re-prime once the tank has been completely emptied. Before you get too involved with other possibilities, pour in a couple more gallons and try again.

And, just a word....electric fuel pumps use the gasoline in the tank to cool the motor. Running the tank near empty will cause the pump to run hotter and shorten its life. Higher head pressures that occur when the tank is near full will allow the pump to work less to develop the same output pressure.

You would tend to get more responses if you posted in the right section. I'll move it there for you.

I agree 100% with putting more fuel in the car. At least 2 more gallons, preferably 5. It may take a few priming attempts to get fuel to the rail.

Running a pump dry is VERY bad for it, and pumps and labor are very expensive. I'd suggest passing that word along to the proper person.

sorry, it'* a habit to post in that forum cuz i have a 96.

i checked for spark today and there was none. if the fuel pump de-primes or whatnot, does that disable spark? also, when the spark plug was out, i saw a bit of grayish spray out of the little hole where the spark plug goes, so i'm pretty sure that it'* getting fuel.

hopefully there will be more gas in the tank soon. thanks for the help thus far.

I found with my car, that to get the fuel to the rail is as simple as hitting the check valve on the rail.. the schrader valve. If it hisses out a bunch of air, that was the problem, if fuel comes out just a dripple, you kicked your fuel pump, if she squirts hard then you're good.

Also if the computer knows that it isn't getting spark [crank sensor, cam sensor, icm bad], then it won't rattle the injectors. So if you have no spark, but the injectors are firing, it'* a coil/wire/plug problem.

The computer isn't going to know there isn't fuel pressure so it won't spark, so the no spark is not related to the running out of gas.

ok, will try those on the fuel rail tonight. i really hope it'* not a fuel pump.

yay, i poked the schraeder valve and gas squirted on me. i'm happy the pump is still good. so i guess the coils died at the same time she ran low on gas. hopefully we can do that tomorrow.