Ran out of fuel, now got warning lights

davidjwest

My partner ran out of fuel today in her Renault Grand Scenic, 1.6 petrol. She got some fuel from a friend (unleaded apparently) and was able to get to a garage but the car was running rough and with a "check emissions" warning on the dash with a picture of an engine.

I told her to try filling it with unleaded to see if the problem was fuel contamination and it does run a little better but it's still lumpy - is this likely to be caused by some debris in the fuel tank that got dragged through the system when it ran out of fuel?

Is this likely to have damaged the engine, catalytic converter etc? I've just driven it myself a mile or two to test and it's not bad at higher revs but very lumpy below around 2,000 RPM. Sluggish response to the throttle at low revs too.

The problem is we go on holiday on Saturday and need the car to get us to the airport, 150 miles away, is this something that is fairly easy to fix?

The car has a great feature that tells you how many miles until it runs out of fuel, but once you get under 40 miles range remaining it goes blank, very handy.

Not that I'm trying to make excuses for my partner of course!

Thanks for any advice.

David

johnnyroper

davidjwest wrote: »

My partner ran out of fuel today in her Renault Grand Scenic, 1.6 petrol. She got some fuel from a friend (unleaded apparently) and was able to get to a garage but the car was running rough and with a "check emissions" warning on the dash with a picture of an engine.

I told her to try filling it with unleaded to see if the problem was fuel contamination and it does run a little better but it's still lumpy - is this likely to be caused by some debris in the fuel tank that got dragged through the system when it ran out of fuel?

Is this likely to have damaged the engine, catalytic converter etc? I've just driven it myself a mile or two to test and it's not bad at higher revs but very lumpy below around 2,000 RPM. Sluggish response to the throttle at low revs too.

The problem is we go on holiday on Saturday and need the car to get us to the airport, 150 miles away, is this something that is fairly easy to fix?

The car has a great feature that tells you how many miles until it runs out of fuel, but once you get under 40 miles range remaining it goes blank, very handy.

Not that I'm trying to make excuses for my partner of course!

Thanks for any advice.

David

some cars get EML on when it cuts out from lack of fuel.

i would fill it to brim and give it a good blast down motorway if that fails leave battery disconnected for half hour and repeat the blast down motorway.

PasturesNew

Also, at the bottom of the tank is accumulated bits and bobs. Usually they stay there as fuel is topped up. As she ran out, there's a chance some bits and bobs might have made it into the next bit of the system.

Just fill up and see how it goes. Might sort itself out.

Rossy.

My Renault Sport Clio 197 has the same thing with the miles to go

Gets to 30 miles and goes blank..By then though the orange low fuel light is on so i always fill up if it's come on

The battery disconnecting works extremely well with Renaults and i've done it a few times myself. Gladly i've never ran out of fuel though but try that first and if it still doesn't cure the light then it may be a booking in job at a local garage

mh101005

hi - if th check emmision lights are still on it is possible that an ignition coil has gone. (happened to mine) - the car sounds like a tractor and has no pull - lght may go out when you stop the engine but it comes back on again.

This isnt a garage job really unless you are very nrvous about working on the engine. Garage will cost you a bomb.

Go to a local parts place and buy 4 - best to replace all.

The plastic engine cover comes off easy and you can see the coils (on top of the spark plugs) - Unclip the cable and undo a little bolt on the side - the coil pulls out easy and can be replaced just as easy.

took me 30 minutes to replace them all - that was while talking to my neighbour on xmas eve!

When first ones went the garage charged me £150 to replace one!!.

Sorry to worry you - i wouldnt drive it cos the catalyst could be damaged - dont bomb it down the motorway

Course i may be wrong but it happened to my scenic twice and sounds the same to me.

Browntoa

my car has a specific warning about not running out of fuel as it damages the cat......

davidjwest

Thanks - she did actually run out of fuel about a month ago and that time there was no problem, just filled it up again and ran fine.

Women!

Will try the battery disconnection trick first and then see.

DaveF327

davidjwest wrote: »

The car has a great feature that tells you how many miles until it runs out of fuel, but once you get under 40 miles range remaining it goes blank, very handy.

That would be annoying, but there's also an equally handy gauge on the dashboard that moves between E and F. Once the needle / digit approaches the E, it's best to refuel regardless of arbitrary numbers.

Like you said..

Women!

:rotfl:

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

PasturesNew wrote: »

Also, at the bottom of the tank is accumulated bits and bobs. Usually they stay there as fuel is topped up. As she ran out, there's a chance some bits and bobs might have made it into the next bit of the system.

Just fill up and see how it goes. Might sort itself out.

This is nonsense. Fuel tanks empty from the bottom, always.

Inactive

davidjwest wrote: »

Thanks - she did actually run out of fuel about a month ago and that time there was no problem, just filled it up again and ran fine.

Women!

Will try the battery disconnection trick first and then see.

Good job she isn't a pilot..

andygb

Browntoa wrote: »

my car has a specific warning about not running out of fuel as it damages the cat......

From a purely mechanical point of view, I don't see how the CAT could be damaged. If there is no fuel, then the engine stops, therefore there is nothing going through the CAT/exhaust system.