General Ran out of Petrol...Now wont Start

[DMD]

Hi folks, great forum, this is my first post. Hopefully you can help and I can return the favour some time.
i drive a Fiat Punto 85 Sporting,16V 1.2l, petrol 1998.
I ran out of Petrol the other day and I thought it would be as simple as topping it up and I woul dbe good to go. I have put about 8 litres in and the car wont start. If it does start it will only be fore a couple of seconds, and it only does this about every tenth time of trying. It does not seem to splutter or anythingm just starts then dies!!
Could anyone guess at a diagnosis at least.....it would be great if someone could direct me to a solution.

Thanks

Donal
:slayer:

 

[dave]

turn ignition on an wait till you hear pump prime then turn off, repeat about 4 times then try to start, don't touch the throttle

 

[beau]

i thought it would be a mk1 sporting 16v before i clicked on here,the only way i could get mine going again was easy start when i ran out of petrol.

i primed the fuel system so many times and it just wouldnt have it, i tried for ages (hours infact!)

run it on easy start for 20 seconds and it was fine after.



oh and exactly the same happened to my mates punto sporting when he ran out of fuel! i think its just a sporting 16v thing lol

 

[m20b25]

This happened to us with a 99 Sporting, empty when we got it and with half a tank of fuel later, turn the key: nothing

What we did to get it going in 5 mins and I DONT RECOMEND this method to be repeated was to attach a pipe to the fuel out on the pump itself and suck out ountill a bit of petrol emerged. Dont try this or you might poison yourself :dead: DO however use a vaccum pump attached to a cordless drill, it does the job better, we were just stuck trying to get out of a situation

What happens is the pump will suck up a bit of air when empty and its a curse to get that air removed :bang: running on empty also makes the pump run hotter and will shorten the life of the pump. I'm sure you dont want to pay the €220 plus vat for a new one (we had to get 2!!!!)

 

[simondhopkins]

this happens to most fuel injected cars, pump runs dry, bitch to prime.

Mates 75 was similar, wouldn't start for love nor money untill around 20 minutes after we stopped trying and after it did start again it was running crap. Turns out it sucked all the crap up from the bottom of the tank and blocked the fuel filter.

If no luck, change the fuel filter and try again, prime till the fuel pump makes a deeper noise not one that sounds like a nagging ex.

 

[OPotts]

this happens to most fuel injected cars, pump runs dry, bitch to prime.

Mates 75 was similar, wouldn't start for love nor money untill around 20 minutes after we stopped trying and after it did start again it was running crap. Turns out it sucked all the crap up from the bottom of the tank and blocked the fuel filter.

If no luck, change the fuel filter and try again, prime till the fuel pump makes a deeper noise not one that sounds like a nagging ex.

all of the crap that has been sitting there for 12 years or however long it has been running gets sucked into the engine when you run empty... not good, especially for and old car... its ok for a brand new car though haha

 

[DMD]

i thought it would be a mk1 sporting 16v before i clicked on here,the only way i could get mine going again was easy start when i ran out of petrol.

i primed the fuel system so many times and it just wouldnt have it, i tried for ages (hours infact!)

run it on easy start for 20 seconds and it was fine after.



oh and exactly the same happened to my mates punto sporting when he ran out of fuel! i think its just a sporting 16v thing lol

What do you mean by run it on easy start??

I will first try turning the ignition on a few times...
I'll go for the fuel filter next and then suck on the fuel pump out pipe for a while!!!!!

Thanks folks... I will give it a bash later on, hopefully I can find the fuel pump through my Haynes Manual.
Do you think I should run some Diptene through it WHEN i get it going.

 

[beau]

easy start is a spray can of gas, you spray into the throttle body and it will start the car on it.

 

[philipk84]

was u able to find a solution to this problem as i think this is the problem i have with my sporting, i've been scratchin my head trying to work it out and have had people saying about coil packs an throttle bodies all of which gets expensive an have almost given up on my dream of my sporting as my first car for when i pass my test.

 

[DaveMcT]

A small vacuum pump run off the power drill is one option to suck on the fuel pipe at the inlet manifold - its has a quick release connector. Suck on the end coming from the car !!!

Another option is a long length of tube connected to a vacuum point on another car. Connect it with that car running and its vacuum will give the suck you need.