Why car won't start after running out of gas
Asked by Holly Sep 28, 2023 at 07:13 PM about the 2011 Ford Fusion
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I ran out I've gas on the side of the road And after putting gas in now,
my car still won't start Seems to want to but it's not getting any gas is
there anything I can ti get car home
3 Answers
When the tank emptied, the fuel pump picked up air, and the fuel line is now filled with it. You need to prime the fuel pump to get fuel to replace the air which means running the pump for a while. Turn the key to ON and you'll hear the pump for a few seconds until it shuts itself off. Do that several times until the air is bled off and the engine starts. Of course, if that takes a lot of time, you could burn out the pump. Well, don't run out of gas.
That old the pump most likely burned out when the fuel ran out as the pump uses the fuel as a coolant, that is why you never run less 1/4 tank of fuel, any less that that and the fuel pump becomes exposed and no longer has fuel around it for cooling so it overheats and burns out.
