Help! Starting after running out of fuel?

[Weasel]

I think I just managed to run out of diesel; warning light came on sunday night, and I figured I could get away with it until tonight... But, died in the road turning into work after suddenly losing power 3 blocks before.
Given that my commute is about 5k, thats only ~15k from warning to nothing, which is a lot less than I expected... There's diesel nearby, but I can't seem to find the post detailing what you gotta do after running out. Anybody have a link?

[delicat]

Never fun!

Fill her up, you'll probably have to prime the pump too, loosen the bolt on the side of the fuel pump, and push down on the top of the pump repeatedly until fuel comes out, tighten the bold again and away you go.

Good luck!

[jessef]

Loosen the bolt on the side of the fuel pump (10mm)

Pump the air out (little round hand pump on top of the filter housing) until diesel comes out.

Make sure you have a container to catch the diesel coming out.

Retighten bolt

Start.

[Delicanadabc]

Pump ALL the air out.

[Weasel]

Thanks for the replies; won't be able to try and get her going until end of the day.

consequence of not getting all the air=not starting? Or a cooked fuel pump?

What's the best way to get at the fuel pump? Haven't even looked for it before...

[Golf Cart]

It will run rough for 30 seconds or so. The pump is accessible from the top , from the passenger side.

[Green1]

15K from warning to nothing? that's really odd.. I routinely go farther than that... you should be able to do near 100k... let us know how much fuel you put in to fill it up now that it's completely dry...
I also wonder if you might not have a problem with your fuel pickup in that it isn't able to reach the last bit of diesel in the tank?

[Weasel]

Ya, I was rather shocked; haven't kept close track but never had problems with ~50k with the light on before. It's driving me nuts not being sure if its fuel or something more serious, but I've got a site visit in 1/2 hour and can't get grubby til after that.

If it is something else... have any service options surfaced in Victoria besides Marigold?

[FalcoColumbarius]

You may wish to look into that, Weasel. The little amber fuel pump should light up around the 60 litre mark (mine typically at 58 litres). Assuming I am getting my usual 8.5 kilometres per litre (city), then that leaves me with 15-17 litres left in the tanks (A/T size). 15 X 8.5 = 127.5 more kilometres before my engine quits.

Falco.

[loki]

Ya, I was rather shocked; haven't kept close track but never had problems with ~50k with the light on before. It's driving me nuts not being sure if its fuel or something more serious, but I've got a site visit in 1/2 hour and can't get grubby til after that.

If it is something else... have any service options surfaced in Victoria besides Marigold?

I personally wouldn't take my van back to marigold even if you paid me, everything they touched had to be redone when I took it to CCautos for the major tune.

[kb&2dogs]

Ya, I was rather shocked; haven't kept close track but never had problems with ~50k with the light on before. It's driving me nuts not being sure if its fuel or something more serious, but I've got a site visit in 1/2 hour and can't get grubby til after that.

If it is something else... have any service options surfaced in Victoria besides Marigold?

I personally wouldn't take my van back to marigold even if you paid me, everything they touched had to be redone when I took it to CCautos for the major tune.

DITTO! LOUDLY! WITH EMPHASIS ADDED!!!

[after oil]

ive taken apart the tanks and senders... you cant actually run empty, there will always be a little fuel in the tank.

the hose from the bottom of the tank to the IP sits on a mechanism with a float. when the fuel drains, the float drops and cuts off supply to the hose, but leaves about 1cm depth of fuel, when you refill the float comes up.

no air will enter the lines, you dont need to bleed

just as an experiment, i have run empty a couple of times.. i just refueled and cranked till she ran again, w/o doing any bleeding

[Golf Cart]

ive taken apart the tanks and senders... you cant actually run empty, there will always be a little fuel in the tank.

Just out of curiosity, was there much sediment in the tanks?

[mararmeisto]

According to the owner's manual, there should still be 7 litres in the tank when the fuel indicator lamp illuminates. Given that, and about an 8km/litre fuel economy, you should be able to drive about another 50+ km.

I still remember an episode of the Dick van Dyke show when he complains to his wife that his new car isn't nearly as economical as his old car. "Whatever do you mean?" Mary Tyler Moore asks. "Well, when the old car indicated 'empty' on the fuel gauge, I could still drive another 50 miles before I actually ran out of gas. This car: 'empty' means EMPTY! I mean who would set it up like that?"

And then there was the episode of Seinfeld when Kramer is taking the car for a test drive, and he turns to the dealer to point out that the car is almost out of gas, but "let's see how far we can get!" The dealer is suitably reluctant and the screen fades to black. Another of my favourites.

[after oil]

ive taken apart the tanks and senders... you cant actually run empty, there will always be a little fuel in the tank.

Just out of curiosity, was there much sediment in the tanks?

no, there was none!

According to the owner's manual, there should still be 7 litres in the tank when the fuel indicator lamp illuminates. Given that, and about an 8km/litre fuel economy, you should be able to drive about another 50+ km.

I still remember an episode of the Dick van Dyke show when he complains to his wife that his new car isn't nearly as economical as his old car. "Whatever do you mean?" Mary Tyler Moore asks. "Well, when the old car indicated 'empty' on the fuel gauge, I could still drive another 50 miles before I actually ran out of gas. This car: 'empty' means EMPTY! I mean who would set it up like that?"

And then there was the episode of Seinfeld when Kramer is taking the car for a test drive, and he turns to the dealer to point out that the car is almost out of gas, but "let's see how far we can get!" The dealer is suitably reluctant and the screen fades to black. Another of my favourites.

i dont remember the dick van dyke show, but i do remember the seinfeld episode. they were all excited and sweaty and rushing from the experience of pushing the limit of E (im not alluding to the drug)