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Cadillac Repair/1996 cadillac sts
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Question
I ran out of gas. I put gas in. I listened for the fuel pump and could hear it working but the car won't run more than 10-15 seconds until it stalls. Any idea what this could be? Thanks
Hello,
You probably fried the fuel pump. I will explain why I reach that conclusion.
What has changed since you ran out of gas to the engine? Nothing. It ran with no problems until you ran the tank dry-correct?
You obviously have a fuel delivery problem.
You say that you hear the fuel pump running and that's fine and good, but it has lost its prime and every time you leave the ignition on, you are doing more and more damage to the pump by sucking air.
The only way you can fix it so it does not strand you is to drop the tank and put a new fuel pump in. That way you don't have to worry about the damage you already did by running it out of gas.
You should never run a fuel injected car below an 1/8 tank. These are not like the old cars with a carb, whee if you ran out of gas, put some gas in and drive it away. This is an electric fuel pumo that was damaged sucking air with the ignition on. These conditions can destroy a pump in seconds. You pump right now is cavitating and even if you were to get prime in your pump now, the damagr is already done.
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Rob Painter
Expertise
Alarm system questions cannot be answered on this forum. These systems are not what I can answer. Without being physically at the vehicle and not knowing what kind of electrical service has been done on the vehicle, there is no possible way to give an accurate answer over the internet. My expertise is in Ignition/key based anti-theft systems. These issues include GM VATS (resistor chip in key blade) PASSLOCK (MRD)-ignition lock rotation based, no special ignition key and the PKIII Transponder (computer chip in key) systems. These systems are not alarm based and are integral with the starting of the engine. This is why I cannot diagnose alarm problems without physically looking at the vehicle: Alarm systems are a completely different annimal than ignition key/lock based anti-theft system. Many alarm questions come from vehicles 10 years old, and since older, many hands that had been involved over the years.I am an expert in all GM factory (ignition/key based)systems. Alarm system questions pose to many situations beyond my knowledge as to what has been done to the vehicle over the years. Some guy may have actually wired the stereo into the alarm system. Who knows? Over my past 30 years in vehicle wiring repair, I have seen unbelievable wiring disaters done by guys that consider themselves "mechanics." I have seen stereos and alarms intalled using surgical tape. I have seen modules burn up, un-fused circuits, wiring jambed between the doors and even lamp cord used for a starter kill. To answer alarm questions over the internet without examining the vehicle is like asking; What does it take to remove a dent?
Experience
Education/Credentials-ASE certified. 11 years with a GM dealer and 17 years with a repair facility dealing with only the repair of theft recovered vehicles.
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