Engine Ran out of gas, now having problems

Ran out of gas, now having problems

So, the night before I was coming up to NYC to start an internship, I run out of gas in my '94 corolla. A friend picked me up and I brought 4 gallons back to my car, but the it still wouldn't start. I left it where it was parked for about 5 hours, then my dad came back and was able to get it started. We towed it anyway. We figured it was just flooded, but more problems came.

To make a long story short, the car will start now, but often times will stall a short while later. This never happened before I ran out of gas, so I'm guessing that caused a problem. Could there be air in the gas lines? Should I replace anything? I'm in NYC and the car is in DC, so I'm hearing all of these issues second hand. Let me know if more details are needed.

Any insight before I take the car into the mechanic to get raped would be helpful. Thanks.

It could have picked up junk (dirt) from the bottom of the gas tank and clogged the fuel filter, injectors, ect.

So what would remedy that? Somehow I doubt that fuel injector cleaner from Pepboys will do the trick.

Just a wild guess here, get a new fuel filter???? :superconf

Anyway, sometimes it is better to just take it to a shop and have them fix it than having you waste time replacing parts that may not be the problem. You can always get an estimate before you do any work on your car. And they even have a troubleshooting rate, like they tell you what is wrong, and then you can decided what to do.

Just a few suggestions.

X

Alot of local garages here will troubleshoot you car for free, find out what it needs, and decide if its something you can do, or if you'll get a garage to do..

well firstly, when u let ur car run low on gas, ur letting the car suck up all the gas on the bottom of ur fuel tank which could have sediment build up from gas stations with dirty fuel reserves....i guess a worst case scenario would be like you would need to flush out ur fuel system....but if its ur fuel filter, just get that changed for like a hundred or something....

Thanks for the info.

You also run a risk of frying your injectors when you run your car until its completely empty.

well look on the bright side.....at least you didnt run out of gas in Germany on the autobahn, lol....its illegal to run out of gas on the autobahn...

I always wanted to drive on the autobahn. Of course with a faster car then a corolla...no offenses.