Recently acquired Disco, crank but no start

[jimwilly]

I am new to this forum, greetings to all.
I have recently acquired a 94 Disco from a relative. It's in good condition bodywise, and has just over 76k on the odo. The vehicle has been sitting unstarted for approx 3 months. According the the person who was watching the vehicle for my relative, a new battery would be all that she needed to start right up.
On sunday, I went to have a look, sure enough, the battery is toast. A new battery will give me a strong crank, but no start. While the fuel gauge is low (low enough so the light comes on while cranking) the gauge tends to rise a little bit the longer the key is in the on position. The car is parked on a slight upgrade, and I'm unsure if the fuel pickup is in the forward or rearward portion of the tank. When I turn the key, I do hear the fuel pump powering up, so I think it's working as intended. The vehicle also had new spark plugs, cap, rotor and wires installed about 1 year ago, but the vehicle has only been driven around the block a few times since then, and I suspect that it may be out of fuel now.
I plan to attack this again this weekend, with about 5 gals of fuel, 2 bottles of gas-line anti freeze and a can of fuel system cleaner in the tank. I also planned to pull out 4 of the plugs, clean them off (I might have fouled them whilst trying to start it, and add a squirt of starting fluid in the intake before cranking. Has anyone else run out of gas in a parking spot? At what point is the tank really empty? Is there anything else that I should check for?
Thanks in advance,
Jim W

 

[NHESS81]

the fuel low light comes on during ingnition start up, so that may not be an accurate warning of low fuel. i have never ran the truck out of fuel, but even if it were basically out of gas, you would be able to crank the engine over a little bit with the vapors in there---there is no way that they parked that truck and burned up ALL of the fuel at the same time without realizing how low it was. i believe the fuel pickup is in the front because going up hills the fuel drops, but then goes back when going downhill. so seeing that you are slightly up hill, try to roll that sucker around and get the fuel to the pickup--or just add some like you are planning on doing. its not accurate, but how many miles on the trip gauge--im guessing that you would be in the danger zone around 320-330 (thats about the max on my 97 with 22 gallons at 15MPH, so it might be a bit lower for an older truck driven in town miles). good luck

 

[jimwilly]

sorry for the delay in my response. I've been working bizarre hours (I work on the railroad, so anything goes)
The Disco was last started just before Christmas. The maintainer of the vehicle had been starting the vehicle once every other week or so, letting it run for about 10 minutes, and then shutting it off. This is why I believe it may be out of gas. The vehicle is in Queens, NY and one a very small street, so turning it around to point downhill is definitely out of the question. The good thing is that the weather in the NYC area is supposed to be very mild this weekend (in the 60's) so hopefully I'll get her cranked up and drive her back home to NJ on Sunday.
I will update the forum with my progress.
Thanks again

 

[joey]

I am not one to normal suggest ether. But add your fuel to the tank, then remove the MAF, and spray some ether into the intake. If it starts, then you were out of fuel, if it doesn't do anything check all spark related items. Also lock and unlock the doors with either the remote, or via the drivers door (4 times). This should clear any errors in the alarm ECU.

 

[jimwilly]

Thanks Joey,
I was just searching the forum and came across another post with the "locking and unlocking the doors" cure.
I will give that a try on sunday.

Thanks again.
Jim

 

[Moose]

Also try bypassing the Inertia Switch. It's on the firewall on the passenger side, and has a plunger-style button on top covered in rubber/plastic. There are two wires that run into it with a wiring harness -- jump those together and see if it'll run.

Then get a new part, so the engine stops if you get into a wreck.

 

[Heem]

Check This previous thread...

http://www.landroverworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2133

Mine did that and I was able to clean up the IAC with some simple electric parts cleaner, and it started right up.