Ran out of gas, now the problems begin...Help!

[JTech]

I ran out of gas about 2 weeks ago (Fuel said 1/4 tank) and have had the following problems since:

Major power loss below 2K RPM and below 40mph.
Engine miss-firing alot and some cylinder knock..
Cold idle is bad also, tends to dip.
Idle also dips alot when AC is on.

I replaced the fuel filter about a week ago and it ran great for about 5 minutes, then back to the above condition.

I am kinda baffled here... I had NO problems until I ran it out.

Anyone have a good target area to start at?

[RoraStar96]

Your fuel pump probably sent a lot of crud that was sitting in the bottom of your tank thru the lines and has clogged your injectors. If I were you, I would.

1. Trust your DIC instead of the gage
2. Full fuel injector servicing
3. Fuel line conditioning.

[The Rebel]

The sock on the fuel pump prevents crud from entering the system!
As far as the gage showing some fuel (1/4) and you still run out, then check the sending unit...
when you replace the fuel pump, always buy dealer fuel pump! You don't want to have to go back "in" due to installing an aftermarket fuel pump.

[netmazk]

Just wanted to say that I've had almost the EXACT same issues!
Only if i remember correctly, it was a few weeks, maybe even 2 months, between me running out of gas and the mysterious loss of power; but the symptoms are the same as you describe.

-Major power loss under 2.5Krpm or so, VERY noticeable while going up hills. Having the AC on also makes the car struggle quite a bit more.
-Occasional knocking coming from the engine area
-When its cold outside the idle used to have a little bit of trouble staying steady, but this seems to have cleared up

The spark plugs have all been replaced with AC Delco platinum plugs maybe 4 or 5000 miles ago, along with the fuel filter about 1000 miles ago (it had been replaced about 6kMi ago too, but I was hoping it might have been the problem.) All the above symptoms showed up at once shortly after I had my car inspected (which it passed just fine). I'm having it taken in to do the recall work on the fuel rail, and I'm hoping that will help (I can smell a bit of gas when starting the car maybe 7/10 times). If that doesnt help I'm going to look into changing the spark plug wires and maybe the FPR but I'm pretty low on money right now. Anyone else have any ideas what could be causing this stuff?