Ran out of Fuel

[rono]

A friend of mine ran out of fuel Friday night, could not get it started and called me about 10 PM.

He is a pipeline welder and his 3500 4x4 is very heavy. I towed him to my house and Sat. AM we spent about 3-4 hours getting him started.

We called the local dodge dealer and was told to loosen # 1,3,4 (as they were the easiest to get to), and 'bump' the engine over, leave the key on and the lift pump would run for 20-30 sec. until we saw bubbles or fuel coming out. Not exactly understanding the way this system worked, I was looking for fuel to come spraying out as the lift pump was running. Well, after a while, I called him back and was told that the injector pump had to be setting on the injector we had loose before fuel would come out. Finally, after only loosening one at a time, and watching with a flashlight, I could just see fuel leaking out when the engine stopped on that particular injector.

Now, after this Long post, there seems should be better way. First, Do Not Run Out Of Fuel!!
Second, is there a way to 'jump' the lift pump to run all the time while turning the engine over by hand and watching for fuel to leak out of the injectors. You should be able to watch in the firing order from one injector to the next. Would this work?

Any help would be greatly appreciated and helpful. Thanks, and sorry for the long post.

Ron

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'01. 5 ETH, DEE, 2500 Silver, QC, 4x4, SB. 3. 54 LS All options except leather. Not bombed Yet. Life Member NRA & NAHC. Ron Osborne

 

[Mopar-muscle]

ron i have run out of fuel , if you crack those 3 injectors , cycle the key and actually spin the engine a few times witrh those injector line loose , put a white rag under the lines , when you see it wet with fuel close the line , once you have fuel out the 3 lines , put the throttle to the floor and hold it while cranking , it will fire and clear the rest of the injectors , i have done it twice , stupid me , first time took 45 minutes to start , second was under a hlf hour , i always carry tools and can fix almost anything on the side of the road ... DON"T RUN OUT OF FUEL ... it will also set a code and if it don't clear it self , not sure if it hides itself in the PCM , the dealer will know and probably use it to deny a claim if your injection pump craps out .

 

[rono]

Mopar-Muscle, Thanks for the reply, I hope I'll never have to use this procedure, but it's nice to know.

Can I see a code or reset it by cycling the key ???

Ron

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'01. 5 ETH, DEE, 2500 Silver, QC, 4x4, SB. 3. 54 LS All options except leather. Not bombed Yet. Life Member NRA & NAHC. Ron Osborne

 

[Mopar-muscle]

yes it is stupidity on my part , i fill up once a week , i need to get in the habit of doing half tank fills .
rono , the code you set tells the dealer that the fuel gauge did not move for over 40 miles of continuious driving , which means a fuel sender problem , but if there is no sender problem it means you possibly ran it out of fuel , depending on the dealer and how you get along with said dealer they will replace it and not note the code , or tell you to pound sand as running it out of fuel was your fault , not theirs ... either way , avoid running out of fuel.

 

[Sean Flanagan]

Running out of fuel is really hard on the injector pump! But hopefully you know that. If it runs out, don't try and nurse it along on fumes. A buddy of mine did and destroyed his VP44 injector pump. Luckly, the warranty covers stupidity, and the dealer replaced it for free.