often times my car takes a long time (for me) to start (5 seconds of continuous cranking), and also the idiot light no longer comes on to warn me of my foolishness (ive run out of gas twice because of that). the ecu shows 0505, no problems, and i cant figure it out. could it be just that the light is burned out, or might it be something else with the fuel system. by the way, my car has 148,149 miles, and im not cetain if the fuel filter has ever been changed, but i that couldnt be the problem, i dont have the money to waste on a new one. thanks in advance.

 

You dont need the gas light to tell you to fill up, it doesnt take a genious to figure out thats what the gauge itself is for...

If you've run out of gas that many times and wait that long to get gas, then you DEFINATELY need a new fuel filter. All the crap and sediments in the gasoline tends to stay in the bottom of the fuel tank and gets sucked up when your running low. The fuel filter is only like $10 at the most and takes a few minutes to change...

If its giving you a hard time starting its most likely not related to the fuel system, its probably in need of a basic tune up or maybe even the cam sensor that needs to be checked.

 

i know theres a gauge there, but i was gonna wait till the light came on before i filled it up, cuz i didnt really have time. anyways, i guess ill go get me a new filter soon as i have $10. dont laugh, i know im poor...

 

Check and clean your battary terminals...an easy cleaning could clear up your problem starting

-matt

 

good call matt, theyre horribly corroded, but i never think to clean em when i have free time, im going down there and cleaning those right now

 

Yea clean those suckas out good, while your down there take a look at the fuel filter, you'll see its not that hard of a job, 15 minutes tops

 

yeah, ive looked at it, but i dont exactly have a new one to replace it with, so i figure it best to leave it on, obviously. but anyways, anyone know if there could be something up with the light, the obvious answer is that it burned out, but its not on that often, so i doubt that would be it. any input would be just lovely

 

WHO CARES....they say to put gas in the car when it reaches 1/4 of a tank..so quit being lazy, forget about the stupid light and put gas in your dam* car

-matt

 

The bulb may have burned out. Take out your cluster, take out the bulb, put two wires on it and test it with your car battery terminals. If it lights it's good and the problem is elsewhere... if it's dead, get a new bulb.

So do you need a light for everything that needs replacement or maintenance on your car ??

Perhaps, since you might have the original fuel filter and there's no light for it to tell you it needs changing.

J/K, but seriously, stop running the fuel so low.

 

i hate to run the fuel low, and i try to take as good of care as my budget allows, i just rarely have money available for gas, but i do maintain the car as much as possible

 

It's simple - right now, start saving $5. When you have your $5, put it in your car so that the fuel gauge reads above the 1/4 line. Once you get down to 1/4 while driving, you've officially run out of gas, and can no longer drive, so go home. This $5 investment and some discipline will solve this problem.

Or don't, run out of gas and spend the rest of your life living in a van, er, maxima down by the river!

 

as nice as that theory sounds, its actually about $10 for 1/4 tank, $2.67/gallon, so thats why i can barely get any of the stuff

 

$2.67 a gallon ?!? DAMN !!

 

sounds like a general tune up is all you need.....clean the TB, new plugs (go with coppers if you are tight on cash) and a new fuel filter.

 

thanks jbreit, and yes, $2.67, i hate CA