Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Ran outta gas now car won't start

Hello all, i own a 2000 Ford Contour, and today i ran outta gasoline. I managed to push it home and put some gas in it i had in a can in the garage. My car started for about 5 serconds then died again. I filled up the gas can (2 gallons) and put it into the car as well. The car still refuses to start. It turns over, but i get no ignition. I attempted to get a jump, and even a new battery with no prevail. The Fuel pump is clicking on too, and was replaced recently. Does anyone know why my car won't start, or perhaps something i might be able to do to find out? Thanks!

If you ran out of gas and it wont start, and thats the only thing that happened and it was working before...I would check to see that you are getting fuel for sure, and that your pump has not died.Try holding the pedal to the floor as you crank.You could also depress the shrader valve on the fuel line to see if you have fuel in the line ( be carefull with that though ) will be under pressure if you do.

you say the fuel pump is clicking on...but is it running?
try this...have someone get in the car and crank it over while you reach under the car with a rubber mallet and repeatedly hit the bottom of the gas tank in the center.

i have seen this happen a ton of times, the garage i worked at was attached to a gas station, people would run out of gas waiting in line for the $.05 off on thursdays. and when they finally got gas, their car wouldn't start.
we would do what i said for you to do and it would fire right up.
unfortunatly its usually not a permanent fix. your pump will most likely have to be replaced.
but if your lucky, it won't

If you ran out of gas it might have cooked the new pump Can you hear the motor "whirr"? It needs to be submerged in gas to cool itself. Check fuel pressure, should be above 30.