Ran out of fuel, now won't start, please help!

[delhump]

Hi there,
My wife recently ran out of fuel, she put a couple of Gallons in afterwards, but the car won't start, it cranks but doesn't fire.
So far I've checked-
Fuel pump fuses and Relay
Changed fuel filter
Spark at the plugs
DME fuses (there doesn't seem to be any!)
MAF Sensor

Last night I pulled the fuel pump hoping it would be that, when I bench tested it it worked fine, I'm hoping it was just seized and that when I put it back this evening the car will start. But I have my doubts.

Does anyone have any other suggestions of things I can check?
The car is a 1999 520i Touring.

Many thanks,

Dale

(the car has done 200k and up until now has been perfect, I don't want to take it to a garage as the bill will probably be more than the cars worth, and the car's just too good to scrap!)

[taggart]

Maybe it needs more time to prime the fuel since it got starved and you just replaced the fuel filter. Try switching the key from 0 to 2(no crank, just cluster lights) and let the fuel pump prime for around 2-3 sec. Do this 5-10x then fire it up. Hope this is your issue.

[delhump]

Thanks for the advice, I have tried that, but no luck so far.
Cheers

[Random77]

How much fuel did you actually put in? If you ran the tank completely dry it may take more than you added for the pump to prime properly.

[delhump]

Only 2 gallons, that's a good point. I'll fill up a couple more Jerry cans and put them in, see if that helps, thanks.

[Doru]

I would bet the fuel pump is toast. This is what happens after the years piles on the fuel pump and running it with low fuel - at least there's plenty of anecdotal evidence to point in this direction.
There are DIY's on how to replace the fuel pump. If $$$ is tight, there are different good fuel pumps without the enclosure, just replace the old pump. DIY's in my sig or the sticky section.

[tmvE39E53Z32TT]

^That's my thought, but he bench tested it and it worked fine. Put more fuel in the car is a good suggestion.

[cnn]

- Make sure the fuel filter was installed properly (directional).

- The DME fuses are in the engine compartment, under the cabin air filter box.
For the US, this box sits on the Right side.
For the UK, it sits on the Left side.

I posted some pictures of the DME fuses (they sit inside a small black cage, just slide the cover off if you need to replace them).

[Justin517]

if you only put 2 gallons in than you changed the filter and pulled the pump you prob lost almost a half gallon just doing that.

And as mentioned you may have killed the pump by running it low/out. It may still operate when hooked up to electricity but there may be internal damage so it may not be supplying the pressure necessary.

Once you get more gas in it and all back together I would see if you can maybe rent a fuel pressure gauge that hooks to the schrader valve on the fuel rail, see where the pressure is.

[delhump]

Thanks for the advice, but still no luck getting the car started. I definately have fuel as I've checked the valve in the engine for pressure, I also have a spark at the plugs, and the MAF sensor is working. I've disconnected the battery for 48 hours to try and reset the system, and also fully charged the battery, but still no luck, the car just cranks but won't fire.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks for the help so far.

Cheers,

Dale

[TopEnd]

why did you bench test??? are you not hearing the fuel pump coming on in ignition 2 position? if not, please explain all the fuses and fuel pump relays that were checked.

[crdiscoverer]

+1 on the fuel pump. It uses the fuel to cool itself and it probably overheated when the car ran out of gas.

This is a good article, worth reading:

http://www.agcoauto.com/content/plug..._articleid=195

My pump is working but started being noisy about 3 days ago, I suspect the commutator is severely worn.

[SpeedsterBek]

Check for spark again, and check for proper fuel pressure.
Did you flood the engine? Try cranking it with the gas pedal all the way down (clear flood mode)

[Doru]

If the engine turns, if fuel & spark is delivered, you might have washed out cylinders.
Take the sparkplugs out and fill each cylinder with a spoonful of oil. This is a BMW procedure. I had that happened on my car and it worked. the dealer did it. When I attempted, I found out I was too scared and poured to little oil in each cylinder. dealer repeated the procedure and started right away.

[ViolinARC]

If the engine turns, if fuel & spark is delivered, you might have washed out cylinders.
Take the sparkplugs out and fill each cylinder with a spoonful of oil. This is a BMW procedure. I had that happened on my car and it worked. the dealer did it. When I attempted, I found out I was too scared and poured to little oil in each cylinder. dealer repeated the procedure and started right away.

Veerrrry Interesting!! Nice procedure to share as there seem to be several "No-Start" threads recently...

[pshovest]

Do you smell fuel at tail pipe after cranking? If so engine is likely flooded. There's a post by JimLev on one of these boards showing how to remove the fuel pump relay, install a jumper wire and force the fuel pump to run. Listen for pump and let it for several minutes. With pump running find schrader valve on fuel rail. Remove cap and CAREFULLY depress valve while holding cloth on valve to catch fuel. Hold valve open until you get fuel. E39's don't circulate fuel through the rail like older bimmers. I think rail can become "vapor locked" when tank is run empty. This will verify rail is full of fuel.

[BenPRunkle]

I once took out a fuel pump and tested it and it was working but it wasn't strong enough to start the car. Replacing the fuel pump fixed it. I just got one from a salvage yard for like $40.

[delhump]

That's some great advice, thanks for all your input.
I have a friend who's an auto diagnostics specialist coming tonight, he's going to hook up his 'magic box' and see if that comes up with anything.
Failing that, you have all provided me with a few more procedures to check, and I'm starting to think that the engine has been flooded, so will try the various methods described to sort it.

I'll keep you all posted, and thanks again.

[delhump]

Update:
Last night I removed the sparkplugs and put a small amount of oil in the hole, put everything back together, cranked her - and she fired first time, and idled perfectly, bit of smoke out the back, but I left her running for 10 minutes and it cleared, (Many Thanks Doru!)
Then drove a couple miles to my parents, turned the car off, left it for 10 minutes and it started again no problem, but after another 2 miles whilst doing 30 mph the car just died, I couldn't get it started and had to be towed home again!

Now it seems like I'm back to square one, although the car will sometimes fire, but then die straight away.

Probably going to repeat the oil procedure again tonight, and leave the car running for 1/2 hour on the drive (if it starts!)

(my mate with the diagnostics couldn't make it last night, hopefully he's going to turn up tonight)

[cnn]

Likely dead fuel pump.
Running the gas tank empty is a sure way to kill a fuel pump.
Bench testing may seem OK but when in the car, the pump may not pump enough to run the engine.

A fuel pump insert (Bosch or Hella) is not that expensive.

[Doru]

Fuel pump insert (as suggested by CNN) DYI in my sig.

GL

[bullard123]

I would also buy a bottle of that complete fuel system cleaner. It wont hurt to give everything a nice clean before you replace the fuel pump. Glad to hear that it fired up for you!

[delhump]

Thanks guys, after spending another night messing about with it (Pretty much every night for 2 weeks now) I've had enough, it seems to keep flooding itself, as everytime I remove the plugs they are saturated in fuel.
It's off to our local mechanic later today, I'll fill him in on what I've done, and suggest that it could maybe be the fuel pump.
I'll post back and let you know if he gets it started, and hopefully be able to let you know what the problem was.

Thanks for all your help.

Hmmm, just spoke to the mechanic before I towed the car to his place, told him everything I've done, he said there wasn't any point taking it to him, as he would've only done the same things. The only thing he suggested was to check and see if the car has a cold start sensor, and replace that.

So I'm kind of stuck again, I'll look for the sensor, and replace the fuel pump, but after that I'm totally out of ideas, and it'll be the scrapper for the car, all because the missus ran out of fuel - gutted.

[delhump]

Hi guys,
Well as a last resort I went and obtained a fuel pump from the local scrapyard Saturday morning (even though I thought mine was fine as I had bench tested it) I put the new pump in, let it prime, and the car started first time!
Looks like my old pump was only working intermittently.

Many thanks to everyone for your comments and help.

Cheers,

Dale.

[Justin517]

It didn't have to be working intermittently... it could have been running the entire time but was been worn to the point of not building enough pressure to run the engine...