My son ran his car out of gas. He put 4 gallons in from a can. Now the car stalls and idles rough. We replaced the fuel filter to no avail. please help.......

 

Check the car for codes, if there are any, reset them. If it still runs rough, check for codes again and post them.

 

Ck your fuel pressure; my guess is that the fuel pump was damaged by running it dry.

In-tank fuel pumps are designed to be lubricated/cooled by fuel running through them; running them on air burns them up pretty quickly...

 

I think gdog is on the right track. I just got done replacing my 3rd in tank pump in my 740 - after running out of gas. Interestingly, the pumps did not fail immediately; I was able each time to start the car and drive home after adding just a couple of gallons. However, within 2 days I started getting all the symptoms of a bad lift pump, which ultimately turned out to be the culprit.
I also had the exact same experience with a Ford Aspire I used to drive, the only difference being that it only had an in-tank pump, not 2 pumps, like my Volvo, so when it quit I would be walking. I think the lesson here is "Don't run out of gas!"

 

Don't run out of gas and, if you're a truly **** Volvo owner, don't run below a quarter tank. Not only are intank pumps cooled by gasoline flowing through them ,they are cooled by being immersed in gasoline. For those of us who have had the pleasure of swapping an intank pump, it's plain how far off the bottom of the tank the pump mounts.

 

+1 With SwiftJustice. I have replaced a few of those pumps when I had my 740, what a pain. However, I often drove under 1/4 tank. My dad on the other hand never did. His worry was about not allowing dirt from the bottom of the tank getting into his fuel system. I'd rather pick that stuff up a little at a time than all at once on a bad day.

Back to the itp, I was aware that the flowing fuel cooled the pump but had never thought about the under fuel level helping as well. That maybe why I had to replace 2 of them in 400,000 miles. My guess would be that it only takes a minute or two to burn one up with no gas in it. I guess that would be the case with all of the fuel pumps.

NOTE TO SELF: Do not run my car out of gas. It may cause the fuel pump to overheat and fail.