Originally posted by Journie:
I dont think he really ran out of gas? My guess is a fuel pump relay went bad just when his tank was really low,and NO you dont burn up fuel pumps by running out of gas,and there is nothing wrong with running out of gas on a fuel Injected car.Used to be on old fuel injected cars if you ran out it had to be primmed back up.But todays cars dont have to have this done.You will just have to crank a second or two longer to get it to firew up.
Under the hood where you hook up a fuel pressure gauge(schrader valve),while someone is cranking over the engine,push the valve in,use a rag to cover it so it wont get in your eyes.If fuel comes out of there,you got pressure.If not you have a bad pump relay,fuse or fuel pump.
But just a guess!
Also if you have a funnel,you can use it as a megaphone by putting it into the fuel filler pipe,as someone cranks the engine,or cycles the key off and on(not starting or cranking it)use the funnel to listen into the tank for a running fuel pump. 
Sorry to disagree with you man, but you ABSOLUTELY CAN burn up a fuel pump in some cars by running out of gas as I explained before. Any mechanic can back me up on this. I have personal experience with this also. I just don't know if the Contour or Cougar are like that.
4 Speed MTX...synchro and shift fork replacement in progress 
