Ran out of gas, now th eengine wont start

[91fordtuff]

mmmmgay, this is what hapend.
My fuel gauge doesnt work, so i ran out of gas while i was pulling in my drive way, the engine just cut off and i coasted for a little while. i tryed craking it back up, but it wont start, the only thing turning the engine is the starter. . i put gas back in it and it still wont crank, i let it spin a little to let the gas run back to the motor but still othing, so i sprayed started fluid in the t/b but i still aint got nothen..im working on it tonight, so if any one could help me a.s.a.p. that would be great..
Btw...its a 2.3 fourbanger..fuel injected
Thanks guys!
-Bubba-

[Cutlass327]

When I did that a few times it took me pouring some gas into the throttlebody and cranking it over a few times to get it to finally prime the air out of the system and run on it's own. Did it try to fire at all with the ether? If not, make sure you have good spark. If so, spray more ether, put the air hose back on, and try it again. You may have to hold the pedal to the floor if you put too much ether in, like you are clearing out a flooded condition. If your truck has a MAF sensor, it might not run without the air tube in place, plus the tube will keep the fire to a minimum if it backfires with the ether.

[91fordtuff]

It didnt realy fire, but it made one deep throted poping sound..
I was going to check the spark on it but thats the one thing i forgot to do, my unlce said to reset the fuel pump button, and i know its usaly under the dash on the passenger side..but i looked all over and couldnt find it..its a 1991..so if you know where that is it might help me out alittle bit..ill go check the spark and brb

[Space_Man]

Pull spark plugs and see if they are getting any gas on them. I know I got alot of trash in my injectors when my old 92 e250 ran completley out of gas. The interia switch should just be a red button to push just keep looking it's kinda hard to see(at least it is in my 98) but sounds your looking in the right place. Also if your injectors where not throwing out enough fuel you could have run in lean enough long enough to take out the head gasket. Also check your timing. If the motor was jerking during the shutoff it may have cause the timing belt to skip

[Cutlass327]

On the older trucks the inertia switch had a white rectangular button on top. It is in a location that if a passenger was to kick up under the dash, they could possibly trip it. I would have to say it is about half the size of a pack of smokes, black plastic. Pull the carpet where it ends for the heater box down about 5-6 inches and you should see it.

[BlueMan]

Yeah, between craping being possibly picked up from the bottom of the tank choking the fuel filter, to it possibly popping the timing chain (and not actually running out of gas), there are plenty of things to check. You should be able to see the backside of the timing belt and cam sprocket - just have someone crank it over while you watch. Change the fuel filter if you haven't already too.

Fixing the gas gauge ins't a hard thing to do - most likely it's a bad float. Good news is it's a cheap part, but unfortunately you either gotta drop the tank or pull the bed off to get at it. In the meantime use the trip odometer to let you know when you gotta get gas, and don't cut it too close!

[91fordtuff]

yea i knew i had to pull the bed off and all, i jsut haent got to it yet...ive been putting about $20 every hundred miles or so..cause i havent figured the gas milage yet..does anyone know how much mpg a 2.3 gets with a gutted air box and dumped exaust after the catty?

[Cutlass327]

I used to fill mine every 230 miles or so.

[BlueMan]

Milage does vary considerably - just fill up, go a certain number of miles, and fill up again. The further you go, the more accurate your milage estimate will be. Divide the miles driven by the number of gallons to fill up the second time and then you can compute your milage. Once you know what you can expect for milage, then you know how far you can safely go on a tank of gas (just don't stretch it too far).

[Cutlass327]

The way I did it, was I ran out a few times, and each time I looked at the trip and went :doh:

You could always run it out, but have a can in the bed to get you to the gas station, and see how many miles you went.

[91fordtuff]

Im still having problems with my ranger, i said before that i ran out of gas and now it wont start..
I pulled the plugs and checked the spark, that was a go.
I cheked my fuel reset button, it was already pushed down, so i poped it up..cheked it, nothing..pushed it back down, still nothing
I poured some gas in the t/b and it didnt do much of anything ..
The only thing im getting is one single deep sounding "pop"..but its like a mellowed out pop..if that makes any sense
I checked the fuel relay fuse on the wheel well box and it was ok
Im not sure what to do now..so i need help bad..

I broke one of the plug wires so i went ahead and orderd a new set of autolites profesianal kind, and a set of e3 plugs

Any help i could get would be apreciated!

[Rebel Ranger]

can you hear the fuelpump running?is there around 35 psi fuelpressure? and check your timing marks

[91fordtuff]

my truck is still flucked up..
its not carbed so i have no clue what im doing..
I pulled the fuel filter off and im getting gas flow threw there..so its not clogged..is it my fuel pump?
ami suposed to prime the injectors somehow..if so..then how do i do that?...thanks!

[BlueMan]

See if you're getting pressure at the fuel rail - there's a schrader valve (like on a tire) that you can check. You also did'n't mention if you can see the cam gear turning from the timing belt. If it doesn't turn when you're cranking, it won't fire because it's not opening the valves.

[91fordtuff]

10-4..ill check the psi..then ill check the timing belt..is it a belt that runs the fuel pump, cause i thought it came off the side of the motor and not ran by a belt?

[BlueMan]

Nope - fuel pump is all electric. Mechanical fuel pumps went out with the carb as they don't generate enough pressure for EFI. My '86 had two pumps a low pressure in the tanks and a high pressure in the frame rail, but I think by 91 they had a single HP one in the tank.

The belt you can see is the serpentine drive belt - the timing belt is under a cover just in front of the valve cover. You should be able to see the back side of it.

[Psychopete]

10-4..ill check the psi..then ill check the timing belt..is it a belt that runs the fuel pump, cause i thought it came off the side of the motor and not ran by a belt?

Honestly, it sounds like something is wrong in the timing. What really points it out is that the engine is not firing when you're giving it starting fluid, and it's getting spark.. I am pretty sure there's something that's spins off the timing belt like a distributor. But I am not fimilar with this engine.

If you're getting one single pop - the engine is probably flooding out and firing when the exhaust valve is open. Have someone listen.. You can also try disconnecting the fuel pump relay and turning it over when it's flooded, if you get a lot of pops, you can almost be certain something is wrong with the ignition timing. Not only just check if the timing belt is good, but make sure that everything is lined up correctly. Another thing you might look into is when the intake valve is actually opening. This would indicate a shift in the belt, throwing the cam timing and ignition timing off. But it's hard to say, I am not very fimilar with the 2.3L.

From that year - I would imagine that you have a single fuel pump, some had 2, in the fuel tank that's electrically driven as oppose to mechanically. Also - Running the fuel pump with out fuel will burn it up - if you run out, I would be reluctant to run it repeatedly. Fuel actually keeps it cool.

That's my 2 cents, Good Luck.

[Cutlass327]

You could also pop the distributor cap off and see if the rotor is turning while you turn the engine over. Did you check for spark at the coil or at the plug? If at the plug then the rotor must be turning, so unless it just skipped a tooth, the belt is ok.

[olemiss]

You could have burned up the starter when you ran it out of gas.

[Cutlass327]

The engine cranks over, just doesn't fire off, from my understanding of his descriptions. If the starter was bad, then the engine wouldn't move.

[91fordtuff]

the starter is fine, like you said if the startere was bad then the engine wouldnt turn. a guy told me that since im getting gas past the fuel filter then it could be my injectors beeing clogged, so he told me to clean them, then if its not that the 89-92'ish ranger and mustangs had a problem where the computer would just go out his buddies did the same thing. so after i clean the injectors adn if it still dont do anything...
ill probly be right back on here asking some more dumb questions..lol

[salating]

i got the computer from my 93 i would sell ya if you were gonna try to replace it

i dont know if it will work in the 91 tho since mine is DIS

[91fordtuff]

i think im having trouble keeping my wire boots conected to the distribater(lol) place it plugs in at under the alternator so ill screw with that tomarw...after that im putten a new comepter in it...anyone selling one for a 91?

[BlueMan]

Instead of just playing random parts swapping, hoping to hit the right thing, you may want to consider taking it to a mechanic that can actually diagnose the problem and fix it. It'll probably be quicker and possibly cheaper too.