HELP! ran out of petrol. wont start again!!

[vlad_s]

sorry guys, urgently need your help.

i ran out of petrol just now, ran to the petrol station and got like 15 litres, but the car wouldnt start!!! i kept cranking it over, but still nothing. could i have like an air hole in there or something?! what should i do. i never had a car with carbies, so have no idea what to do. its a twin carb setup with a red cover on the side.

all help appreciated. Vlad

[shamus11]

Having sucked the dreggs out of the bottom of your tank you may have sucked up some crap and blocked the fuel filter.

For a couple of dollars I'd get a new one and if that doesn't fix it pull the cover off your air filter and tip a teaspoon of fuel down each carby (careful not too much) this will give the engine enought fuel to run for a couple of seconds and the fuel pump should draw fuel up the lines and fill the fuel bowls in the carbys which are probably empty.

Good luck!

[Ramses]

If you have a clear fuel filter. Passanger's side towards the radiator. You should be able to tell if you have junk in it and if you have fuel going to the carbs. If you have the dual su carbs, just remove the screw from the top of the carb and giggle it around and see if you hear the float causing the jets to push fuel into the carbs. Pretty easy if you dont have any tools laying around.

[Carl Beck]

Are you sure you ran out of gas? Or was the gas gauge showing very low, when your fuel pump happened to go out?

Take a can or a plastic mile bottle or whatever - disconnect the fuel line where it comes out of the fuel pump and put it in the bottle... crank the engine and see if you have fuel at that point.

If you have an electric pump at the rear - disconnect the fuel line where it comes out of the filter.

Just a thought....

Carl B.

[Mr Camouflage]

If you have a clear fuel filter. Passanger's side towards the radiator. You should be able to tell if you have junk in it and if you have fuel going to the carbs. If you have the dual su carbs, just remove the screw from the top of the carb and giggle it around and see if you hear the float causing the jets to push fuel into the carbs. Pretty easy if you dont have any tools laying around.

Fuel filter is on the drivers side, and if you car has the Stock SU carbies there are no "Jets" and jiggling the dashpot damper up and down will only tell you if you have oil in the dash pot, which it should.

[Mr Camouflage]

sorry guys, urgently need your help.

i ran out of petrol just now, ran to the petrol station and got like 15 litres, but the car wouldnt start!!! i kept cranking it over, but still nothing. could i have like an air hole in there or something?! what should i do. i never had a car with carbies, so have no idea what to do. its a twin carb setup with a red cover on the side.

all help appreciated. Vlad

Vlad, Check you fuel filter (drivers side) You should be able to tell if its got fuel in it. If not, you will have to crank the engine continously for a while untill the pump sucks enough fuel into the carbies for it to start.

If its got fuel and it still wont start, it might be blocked, like the other guys said.

[racebird1]

On some z's you need to fill the tank all the way up if you run it empty because you need the gravity to get the fuel back to the fuel pump. The pump if dry won't suck up the fuel. Let us know how you make out.

[TomoHawk]

Be careful if you use a plastic milk bottle to catch the gas- some of them will melt!

[oinojo]

if you just have the mechanical pump, you may need to continue cranking over to get the pump to actually pull fuel from the tank. Ive gotten stuck a couple times and had to crank over a long while before actually getting fuel.