I am a volunteer with the Lakewood, CO. Police Dept in the motorist assist program. When we are out on patrol we often are asked to furnish gas to stranded motorists. Our normal policy is to add 1 gal. of fuel, but frequently the car doesn’t restart. Are there some general guidelines we should follow, e.g., adding more gas to the empty tank, turning the key on, but waiting several seconds before trying to restart the car? Any help you can furnish would be appreciated.
It may help some models to turn on key 3-4 seconds 2or3 times.
I would carry A combo screwdriver and a can of GOOD starting fluid with straw.
Find air filter and follow it to the motor and there will be a place where plastic hose from air cleaner joins metal of intake, it will have a hose clamp holding hose.
Loosen clamp and pull back hose and when starter is turned give it a shot of starting fluid. As soon as it starts give it one more and if it does not stay running do it one more time.
It is possable to keep spraying in spurts and keep car running for 5 minutes if you do it correct but to much fluid can be bad,bad,bad.
In these times I would have car owner do the spraying so they cannot blame or sue you for any car trouble they have.
Running a car out of gas these days is bad, fuel pumps do not like to run dry.
Most pumps have a filter at the bottom of tank and when they run out of gas water and crud clog them up.
In Lakewood, one is NEVER outside of walking distance from a gas station (or a liquor store). Personally, I would not be bothered with this, but if you MUST, two gallons might work better, and with the system pumped full of air, turn the key on and off several times to prime the pump and clear the air out of the lines…
Lets see, two gallons =$6…Do they ever have six bucks?
On many of today’s small cars, once the fuel gets low, it takes a little longer for the fuel system to build up pressure. After you put in the fuel, turn the key to the “on” position, but don’t start the car yet. Wait 10-15 seconds before you start the car. If you are in a quiet area, you will hear the fuel pump come on. Once it shuts off, you are now ready to try starting the car. If you are not in a quiet area, some models will have the gauges come on after the fuel pump shuts off, so you can use that as your queue to start the engine if you are starting one of those models.
In parts of Florida they do this as a public service. The tourism taxes used to pay for it, but when the budget got cut, some local businesses contributed to keep the road rangers out there. These guys won’t even take tips, let alone let you pay for the gas.
Put a pump in a 2003 Chrysler mini-van and no start until system was bled,not all have a convienient schrader valve,but I think your no-starts after running out of gas is related to air in fuel lines.
Yes, add the one gallon of gas to the tank, then have them swiitch the ignition to the on position for 5 seconds, then turn the switch off, then back to the on position for another 5 seconds, then back off, and then back to on for 5 seconds, and then attempt to start the car.
If that doesn’t work, then call them a tow truck, and get them off the highway.
This, of course, only works if their car has an electric fuel pump that is in the gas tank, and the car is level. If their car is parked at an angle, the fuel might not be able to be picked up by the fuel pump.
Oh, and make sure you tell them that they are a moron for driving around without adding gas to their tank. Every car comes with a wonderful little invention called a fuel gauge. There is no reason to drive a car that is pointing towards the E out on the highway.
BC.