won't start (fuel related)
 

1987 f-150 2wd 5.0 dual tank...a few days ago i ran out of gas on the highway(guage doesn't work) i get gas i it and drive about 200ish miles before i fill it up, then it starts with this stalling kind of thing first, didn't think much of it b/c it needs a regulator, then it dies driving and i get it to run again.well i go to leave and it fires and stalls, now it just cranks and cranks with nothing else happening..i don't hear the pump, i used to hear it when i turned the key? now my question is where do i start to find the problem...relay first? someone please help me if they can i need this truck to drive to scholl which is a 70 mile round trip...thanks everyone

You probably overheated & damaged the pump when you ran it dry. Read this post, then get a fuel pressure gauge to see what you've got. Are you SURE there's gas in the tank now? I'd try to add 5 gal just to be sure.

steve, thanks for the reply, i'm trying to pull up the thread you have, i know theres gas in the back tank and some in the front. i went out to it this afternoon and it fired up the 3rd time i fired it, i drove it and it warmed up then would die on me and if i was lucky i could pop start it...so i'm gonna get the guage and fiqure out how to do it , thanks for the reply and if its the pump how bad is it to do??? thanks

edit: which one do you think is bad, the one on the rail?, it seemed to run fine when i switched tanks/ also i know it needs a reg... its chuggin some smoke and has a lot of blackish moisture coming outta the pipes.thanks for the help

i talked to a friend that has a 5.0 mustang and he said he had the same problem, and it ended up being a bad tfi module on the dizzy? just wanted to update

Have you tested the fuel rail for pressure?
If you don't have fuel pressure it's a fuel delivery problem. If you do have pressure it's something else. Check and eliminate one thing at a time.

If you do have a fuel delivery problem, it could be a toasted pump from running dry but it could also be that you've clogged the fuel filter with crud from the bottom of the tank. (That's another reason not to run a tank dry.)

Change the filter. Fuel filter that is.

i6d
The frame pump isn't hard (obviously), but most people with pickups say it's easier to lift the bed than to drop the tank to get to those pumps. You should also run some Berryman's B-12 Chemtool (Wal-Mart or any decent parts store) thru the tanks to dissolve any crud in them or (more importantly) in the "dual-function reservoir" on the frame rail between the tanks. It's operated by the (low) pressure from the in-tank pumps, so it's known to stick if neglected. If it turns out you have poor fuel pressure, it's almost certainly the in-tank pumps (or reservoir) because a bad frame pump (hi-pressure) would cause the truck to NOT run at all.

There was a very nasty class-action lawsuit against Ford for the distributor-mounted ignition modules, so that's a possibility. But the ignition diagnostic procedure in Haynes will positively isolate any fault there, so follow it to the letter.

SR
The pump ALWAYS pulls from the bottom of the tank, so running it low doesn't change the chance of pulling up crud.

tested the fuel pressure 40lbs, had spark changed the regualtor(needed one)
still couldn't get it to start. after being highly P.O.'d i looked at the dizzy and it had wire going to it with a plug, well that was unhooked, idk what it is called but i put dielectric grease on it and made the best connection i could...thought i'd update, thanks for everyone's help on here

One of these?

https://www.supermotors.net/getfile/...i-iv-spout.jpg

The SPOUT won't prevent the engine from starting - it only locks the advance.

The big one is for the ignition module. If it was unplugged, you wouldn't have gotten any spark at all - ever.