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Ran out of gas, filled it with gas, won't start!

B

Boise SVT

New CEG'er
Joined
Oct 25, 2007
Messages
5
Ok, I ran out of gas on the way home from church yesterday. The tow truck guy brought out two gallons of gas to get me going and the car (2000 SVT) started right up and drove fine while I turned around and got ready to merge into traffic, while I was sitting there waiting for an opening in traffic the engine started to miss a little and the car died. I tried to get it started but no luck, so I had the car towed to my house.

My initial thought was the fuel filter, to change that I released pressure at the schrader valve but there wasn't any pressure, and not a drop of gas came out. I went ahead and changed the filter which wasn't too bad. When I tried to start the car again it seemed like the engine wanted to turn over and was fairly close to starting. Next I primed the engine by turning the key on and off four or five times. This time the car actually started up after cranking for four or five seconds, I let the car idle for about thirty seconds but when I tried to rev the engine it stumbled and died. After it died it wouldn't start again even when I primed it.

I have two questions, first does this sound like a fuel pump issue to you? If it does where is the best place to get a fuel pump, should I use a genuine ford part or is there an aftermarket one?
 
The fuel pump is cooled by the gas flowing through it. Running out of gas can fry the fuel pump.

What year is your SVT? There are different options depending on the year and fuel system.
 
It's a 2000. So it should have the returnless system. I've heard about using the SVT focus pump. Why is this used instead of the contour pump?
 
I'd recommend the revised pump assembly (Cougar recall). While it's never a good idea to run below 1/4 tank in any modern car, the revised pump assembly is less prone to overheating due to low fuel.
 
Still have only 2 gallons in the tank?

You may need more fuel to fill up the fuel lines, filter, fuel rails, etc. The pump sits 1/8" above the floor of the tank. I could see how 2 gallons would do nothing.

In my 97 mustang I replaced the fuel tank, lines, and rails. I put 5 gallons in the tank and the needle did not move at all. I was sweating bullets when I drove it to the gas station to fill it up. :shocked:
 
It's fixed! I had to install a new fuel pump which sucked. I didn't drop the tank, because that seemed like a huge pain. The only really bad part was removing the part of the old unit that is connected to the bottom of the tank. You are supposed to use a special tool that costs about $200, I used some end clippers and finally got it done. Thanks for your responses.
 
Returnless pumps fry easy. I ran out of gas one time, and beginning a few days later, I started to get some hesitation caused by low fuel pressure. It died within a month.

The focus pump is used because it flows better, and costs about 1/4th as much as the contour pump (at least it did two years ago). Very easy install, no modification needed.

I got mine for under $100 shipped.
 
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