mobile car mechanic

pukkamum

can anyone recommend a mobile mechanic in bolton, my husband let our bmw 318i run out of petrol and despite putting petrol in it still won't start.
we suspect it may be the fuel pump and could do with someone coming out so we dont have to pay for a tow truck.

dacouch

You'll probably find one of the posters on MSE will have the mechanical knowledge to tell you how to easily fix this problem yourself.

It will help them if you could post what year the car is so they know which engine it has etc. Also what noises it makes when you try to start the engine

pukkamum

Excellant idea dacouch, thank you.
Its a bmw 318i 1992.
It is turning over (we had to charge the battery as it died when attempting to start).
It is still making the noise when turning over it would make if out of petrol, but the petrol has registered, we put in about 2 gallons via a petrol can.
If anyone can help that would be great.

oldhand

The petrol pump ittself may have quit,but a friend suggested to me before looking at that try turning key to position 2,that is all dash lights are on but not cranking engine,wait 10 seconds then crank engine for 10 seconds.If it doesnt start switch off and wait 2 minutes then repeat.
The reason he says you need to wait 2 mins if it does not start is the pump may have a timer and needs 2 mins to reset,good luck.

tberry6686

If it is an electrical pump then check the fuse

scotsbob

This happened to me many years ago. I ran out of petrol, trudged to the nearest filling station bought a 10 litre can and filled it up, no start.


Called AA and the chap explained that if the car runs completely dry an air lock can form.


It was so long ago that I forget exactly how he cured it but I think it was to take the fuel cap off, hold his hand over the hole while I cranked the engine, he then pulled his hand away and after a couple of attempts all was well. I guess it was creating suction that did it.

arcon5

Happened here too - fuel wasn't getting past the filter. Can of easystart stuff in to the intake pipe, sprayed intermittently to keep the engine turning over once it was running - foot on accelerator until fuel had pushed its way past the filter and back in to play.