QuestionI ran out of gas. I put gas in. I listened for the fuel pump and could hear it working but the car won't run more than 10-15 seconds until it stalls. Any idea what this could be? Thanks
AnswerHello,
You probably fried the fuel pump. I will explain why I reach that conclusion.
What has changed since you ran out of gas to the engine? Nothing. It ran with no problems until you ran the tank dry-correct?
You obviously have a fuel delivery problem.
You say that you hear the fuel pump running and that's fine and good, but it has lost its prime and every time you leave the ignition on, you are doing more and more damage to the pump by sucking air.
The only way you can fix it so it does not strand you is to drop the tank and put a new fuel pump in. That way you don't have to worry about the damage you already did by running it out of gas.
You should never run a fuel injected car below an 1/8 tank. These are not like the old cars with a carb, whee if you ran out of gas, put some gas in and drive it away. This is an electric fuel pumo that was damaged sucking air with the ignition on. These conditions can destroy a pump in seconds. You pump right now is cavitating and even if you were to get prime in your pump now, the damagr is already done.
