In rec.autos.tech, on Wed, 5 Jul 2017 11:33:39 -0400, Retired
wrote:

On 7/5/17 10:45 AM, micky wrote:
Warning, never pour fuel... into the throttle body air inlet opening in
an attempt to start your car. Could result in flash fire..."

I did this 2 or 3 times with carbureted cars, but I'm sure the same
warning would be given for those cars if they were sold new now.
However it worked well. I only needed to do this when I ran out of gas,
and after a few times, I learned** to turn the engine off the moment it
started to show signs of running out of gas, so that when I got a gallon
of gas and tried to restart it, there was still gas in the gas line and
it always restarted after a few seconds.

Clearly, wih a current, fuel injected engine, gas poured into the air
intake will not be injected into the cylinders, but it may be slightly
vaporized and sucked in with the air.

So my question is, will pouring a little gas into the air intake help to
start a car that has run out of gas


**Actually there were three stages:

1) At first, I'd pour the whole can of gas into the gas tank, and then I
might run down the battery or risk overheating the starter motore before
the car started. Maybe I had to get a jump, I can't remember.

2) I learned to not pour eveything into the gas tank and save some for
the carburetor. I'd guess between a quarter and an eighth of a cup,
maybe less. That always worked well. I think I tried starter fluid
earlier, but maybe the car didn't run as long on starter fluid as it did
on gasoline.

3) I learned to turn the engine off the moment it started to show signs
of running out of gas, and iirc I didn't need to pour anything after
that.


On a fuel-injected car, (or any with an electric, in-tank fuel pump)
you should only need to turn on the ignition, wait a few seconds for
the pump to pressurize the line, and then start the motor.

Oh, yes. Great answer. The carbureted cars had mechanical fuel pumps.

By the time I got fuel injection, I'd learned not to run out of gas.

You might even hear the pump running, and then stop when pressurized.

I'll listen.

I had a 1956 Dodge p/u that had an electric, in-line pump, and it
would start almost instantly upon turning the key. Not like most
carbureated cars that would take 3 or 4 turns to start while the
mechanical pump re-filled the fuel bowl.

Oh, yeah.

BTW, I never really inconvenienced myself by running out of gas. Once it
was on the BQExpressway and I just coasted to the next ramp and down the
ramp and into a gas station.

Twice it was on the Manhattan Bridge, and I just coasted down and across
Tillary into a gas station. (There arent' many gas stations in Manhattan
and I assumed they were more expensive than in Brooklyn) One of those
times, the guy behind me helped me push it about 10 feet to get over the
crest.

Another time I was going to a wedding in a town of 300 in western
Illinois, and I ran out of gas just as I crossed the sidewalk into the
town's only gas station. Coasted up to the pump.

Another time I just had to walk up the hill from the sunken xway and a
half block to a gas station, and it only took maybe 20 minutes, but the
worst part of that was I missed the action at work that morning. We
would start at 7 to avoid the heat between 3:30 and 4:30 and we still
had lunch at noon and one "coffee break" before that, so one guy used
to, on his own, I guess used to drive his chevy with the trunk filled
with ice and soda pop and sell them at store prices. One day, I was told
after the fact, the foreman told him to get his car out of there, and he
didn't move it, so the foreman said, "Move it by the time I get back or
your fired", and he walked a block or so to some other part of the job.
Apparently the guy with the car thought the foreman couldn't or wouldn't
fire him so he didn't move, and when the foreman got back, he fired him.

All that I missed, but I think I was there for act 2, even though I
didn't see it. The guy came back with a gun and threatened the foreman,
who then just walked up the hill from the sunken xway we were working
on, went to a payphone and called the police. When the police came and
carted him away, he was still threatening to kill the foreman, and the
foreman said if it werent' for that, he would have forgotten the whole
thing, but instead he stopped by before going to court a while later.
Instead of the work clothes and beat up pickup-truck, he was snazzy in a
suit and a red sports car.

Leon had been in a cave-in, and had broken his leg, his hip, and iirc
his back, and they told him he would never walk again, but he was in his
40's and tougher than any of the guys in their 20's. And he walked
fine. The last hour of the day, he would join in putting down the steel
rods, so that there were none left lying around.


The good part was that if the boss hadn't been busy with the soda
vendor, I might have been fired for being 15 minutes late. I was never
late again.