Car was driving fine this morning then I ran out of gas and it stalled. Imanaged to restart it and barely made it to a gas station. I put gas in and when I turned it back on the idle was very shaky and the check engine light came on. I have never seen the check engine light come on before and it has 155k miles. Now it just keeps shaking at idle and low RPM, it feels like it lost power and the check engine light is either always on or flashing repeatedly. Its a 98 3.8 manual camaro. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

have you ever let the fuel get down that low before?

you could have sucked up the gunk at the bottom of the gas tank and clogged up the fuel filter. OR if it got passed the filter it could have clogged an injector.

autozone or advanced auto parts has a obd2 scanner they will TELL you whats wrong for FREE. then its up to you if you can fix it or take it in.......

***hey ask what the code is and post it here... we can tell you what and how to fix it.

 

Bad gas, perhaps. Or when you ran it dry, the fuel pump sucked up all the crap sitting at the bottom of the tank, and clogged your fuel filter and/or injectors. Just a thought.

 

If it sucked up all that gunk (which makes sense)... how would I go about fixing that? And if it requires proffessional service how much money would you guess it might cost to flush the filter or fuel injector? Thanks for your replies!

 

P.S. the car had been sitting in impound for 30 days with about an eighth of a tank and i used up that entire eighth when it ran out

 

Just buy a new fuel filter. I don't think the filter is that much. Maybe five bucks or so. To have it installed would cost next to nothing also. That would be the most likely problem. I doubt too much got past the filter enough to get the injectors. I'm not sure how much a fuel system flush is if you take it in. By yourself it would take no time and not much money at all.

 

Ok, I have a friend who runs an express tire hopefully he has an obd2 scanner...I'll go by there after work...if not there's an autozone across the street from him... do you think me driving it around likeit is now(assumingthe fuel filter/injector isthe issue) will damage the car? Thanks again for your help

 

Usually, but not always, a flashing SES lite is an indication of misfire. Once the car is scanned you will know for sure. You ran out of fuel, which is bad for the fuel pump, as the pump uses the fuel as both a lubricant and a coolant. You will need to check the fuel pressure under load, to make sure the pump can deliver both the needed pressure and volume. If the pressure is not correct, you will need to find out why. Start with a new fuel filter, injector cleaner, and hopefully you won't need a new pump.

 

forgive me for not seeing the obvious...but would a new fuelpump be the remedy for a misfire? And if so how much would they cost? I may be able to get my friend to install it for free but i would still have to pay for the part assuming that that'sthe problem

 

The fuel pump is expensive and it involves dropping the fuel tank to replace it. There is also a possibility that dirt got sucked out of the tank and is now clogging the filter. The filter is cheap and easy to change, and it may just fix your problem. I really suggest not doing anything till the PCM is scanned.
The discounted price for the fuel pump from Rock Auto ranges from $ 236 to $ 322 depending on brand. The labor hours, for an experienced tech, are listed at 4.6 hours, excluding emptying the tank.