Denali sat in driveway for a few days on empty gas tank, now won't start

Maintenance/Repairs
,
1

I drove my 2000 GMC Yukon Denali with an nearly empty gas tank on accident and then parked in my driveway for a few days. Went to start it up to go fill it but it won’t start. It’ll turn over and it sounds like it starts but it dies after 1 second. I filled up the tank using those portable gas tanks to the point where the denali’s tank is nearly full but it still start. Is this something simple and easy that I can fix myself or do I need to get it towed to the mechanic and if so what is the cost for something like this?

2

You might try resetting the brains, make sure with ignition on you turn all hvac controls including ac to off. Disconnect the negative cable for 30 seconds, reconnect and see if it starts. Had this happen once, frozen fuel line I think, Put the battery tender on it and some heet in the tank. took a half hour of random tries 3 years ago but finally fire up and has been fine ever since, on a trailblazer, but close enough I think. Starting fluid did nothing!

3

IF you can hear the fuel pump engage when you turn the key, this may be your problem.

I bought a 2000 Chevy pickup with a 5.7L V-8 a couple of years ago. It had sat for 2+ years before that. I trailered it here. I fought a situation like yours for a couple of weeks. When I finally put my fuel pressure tester on it, it checked OK, but when I pushed the valve to release the pressure, all I got was air. I pressed the tester’s relief valve again with the key turned off and on several times, and finally got a steady stream of gas. The truck apparently had air in the fuel rail. It has been absolutely fine ever since.

I also fixed a GMC Sonoma the same way, but didn’t have my tester with me. It was MESSY, but I did it by depressing the schraeder valve in the fuel rail’s test port. If you don’t have time to wait for the fuel to evaporate off the top of the engine, you may have a fire to contend with. It is not a recommended practice.

4

Read: Battery Cautions While Making Repairs.

http://www.aa1car.com/library/battery_safety.htm

Tester

5

Try an experiment: push the gas pedal all the way to the floor first, then turn the key to “start” and crank the engine. That might be enough to flush the remaining air out of the fuel rail.