I ran out of gas on my way home tonight and the check engine light is now on. How do I find out what's wrong without taking it to the dealer?

 

I've never done it but I heard it allows stuff on the bottom the tank to get pumped up into the fuel injection.

Another thing I heard is that Nissans are overly sensitive, that even forgetting to tighten the gas cap can cause the check engine light to go on. Fill up the tank all the way, maybe drive 60 miles, and fill it again. Do this maybe 2 or 3 times and see if the light will go out. Hopefully it will so you don't have to pay the dealer to reset it. Good luck.

 

Regards to problems

Yes,it's not a good idea to run out of fuel because
it's possible to disturb any small unwanted debre in through the lines and into the injectors.Hope your the type of person to replace your fuel filter regularly or it could
harm the injectors.or the fuel pressure regulator.The warning fuel light does mean to add fuel to the tank,I'm sure you know that and if it doesn't work,always keep at least half a tank of fuel for good pratice Less moisture ETC.The engine light code will probably be injector misfire
or multi cylinder misfire which occours as the engine was failing.To clear,could dissconnect the battery over night
and or take it to the dealer for two min.erase.If you take
your car in for service which I'm sure you do(ha)they really
shouldn't charge at least we wouldn't because you already
know why it came on and your a deadicated customer(ha).

Good Luck!!!!

 

Are you a Nissan mechanic at a dealership?

 

I've also read that there is sediment at the bottom of the fuel tank. When you run out of gas the fuel pump would have sucked some of that stuff up. If you have a newer car I don't think that would pose a problem but if its an older one that would have happened.

 

Why would you pay the dealer to reset the check engine light?

/aac

 

 

if there's any sediment in the tank, it'd be picked regardless if there's fuel or not in there.

Don't worry about it.

 

No it's not a good idea to run out of fuel,but try and use injector cleaner that you put in the tank when you get filled up.This does not hurt once in a while,not too often.

Good luck!!

 

Why don't you check the code for the light. Check out this site.

http://vbxmaxima.8m.com/ecu.html

 

Just for the record, running out of gas or driving with the tank low is not something I normally but it just turned out to be that kind of week. Since the warning light hadn't come on I figured I was safe to get gas on the way home but obviously I was wrong. Sometimes you just end up having one of those days...

 

That's why there are fuel filters before the fuel reaches the fuel dampener, fuel pressure regulator, then the fuel rail.... running out of fuel is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be.

 

runs out of fuel almost every time I cut the grass and it still starts right up and pulls hard,ha.

 

Seams to be many people out there that have their own
answer to your question even if some make no sense,I suggest DON"T run out of feul if you can help it!!!

 

The check engine light usually means there is an emissions related malfunction (hence MIL) but I heard that forgetting to tighten the gas cap can set it off on the Nissans. Sometimes it will not go off by itself, so you can choose to ignore it or have it reset.

 

Thank you! Another sane mind! That's why they HAVE fuel filters, people. Item #2 is that your fuel pump pickup is ALWAYS at the bottom of the tank. It doesn't float around like a pool skimmer! That means if there is crud in the bottom of the tank, your pump will suck it in regardless of where the surface of the fuel is. Only if you had floating debris could running it out make the debris and the pump cross paths.