Engine won't start...possibly after running out of gas?

[GOT8SPD]

So the other day i was driving my e30 and i parked it and went inside the post office for no more than 2 minutes, came out and it wouldn't start anymore. I thought it could be out of gas since I was driving it a lot and i've been out of town for work and forgot how much gas is in it since the gauge is kinda funky sometimes. I've had it for 2 years and have never ran out of gas though.

So now the car won't start and I've put in about 5 gallons of gas. I've only tried cranking it a few times so i don't think the fuel pump would have gone bad already? I've heard to replace the fuel filter (which i should anyways because i have no idea how old it is), and check the fuel pump to see if it's running...

any other ideas? the car cranks over very strong still...but like i said, i went in the post office for only 2 mins and came out and it was dead. It showed no signs of anything wrong previously while i drove it for an hour from LA back to the valley in traffic.

[sayed ali]

hold on the inlet line to the fpr which is comes from the tank and try to crank it

[GOT8SPD]

OK i'll try it in a bit....but wondering...what will that do? is that the same as generating some pressure?

[PNWDan]

check for spark. no spark and no fuel usually means your crank sensor went bad

[GOT8SPD]

After some reading on the forums...it turns out it could be that since the car ran out of gas, it over heated the fuel pump and it went kaput.

Of course it doesn't help that the fuel pump could have been maybe 20 years old either....

I wanted to make sure that the pump FOR SURE was dead. A lot of people just say listen for the light buzz. But I didn't want to pay 200 bucks for a new pump and it would be my luck that it wasn't the problem. So to check it...



I made this little switch...you can buy the parts at any auto parts store or radio shack. It's basically a 2-way on/off switch, 16 gauge wire, some spade connectors, and a 15amp fuse.

I have a 6 banger so....

You have to jump relays 30 & 87. Turn the switch to the ON position.

Under the rear seat bench on the passenger side, you'll see a round metal black cover, remove it and you'll find the fuel pump. You'll see two electric connectors...one is the fuel level sensor, the other is the fuel pump 12v. Disconnect the fuel pump 12v, and stick the probes into it...turn it to DC 20 on your multimeter to get a voltage reading.

Turn the ignition key to the ON position and you should get a voltage reading. If you don't have a voltage reading, check your switch connection that you hooked up and make sure everything is secure. If you have a voltage reading, then your pump is most likely dead. If no voltage reading, you might have another problem that i don't know where to start