Ran out of gas, car was running perfectly fine.

MUDDSLINGER95

MEMBER
1992 TOYOTA PASEO
1.5L
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
250,000 MILES

I was driving along and ran out of gas, usual problem I'm broke as hell and ran out of gas in this car time and time before. I've always just put more in and started it up and she ran fine. But this time I put more gas in, started it up, and it drove about another 20ft and stopped again.
WHY! What is causing this? It starts up when I put starting fluid in the intake box, but of course the second I stop pouring the car stops running.
What do I do. I need to fix this. I'm a flagger and the biggest part of my job is traveling and BEING THERE.

4 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,885 POSTS

Okay, if it starts with starting fluid, then you are not getting fuel to the engine. Since it ran out of fuel, there is a chance the pump picked up dirt and plugged the fuel filter, or I have seen the pumps burn up when this happens. Have you checked to see if there is any fuel pressure? Can you hear the pump at all when you first turn the key on?

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Thursday, July 17th, 2014 AT 7:11 PM

MUDDSLINGER95

MEMBER
3 POSTS

The pump doesn't run. Does that mean the pumps burnt out?

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Thursday, July 17th, 2014 AT 7:31 PM

MUDDSLINGER95

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Or should I replace the filter first?

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Thursday, July 17th, 2014 AT 7:32 PM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,885 POSTS

Chances are the pump has gone bad. However, to confirm, you need to check to see if there is power to the pump. If there is and the pump still doesn't run, then it's either bad or has lost a ground which is unlikely. If the pump needs replaced, I would replace the filter too.

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Saturday, July 19th, 2014 AT 5:46 PM