Need help starting car ASAP please!

[ehc14]

So I have a 1996 Eclipse RS I'm trying to sell. A guy came over yesterday to look at it and it started right up and ran strong first try. After he left
I took it on a small test drive to make sure everything was golden. The car died as I started going up a hill and had to have my dad tow the car back. It died while driving and haven't been able to get it to start. The guy wants to come back and buy the car TODAY and have no time to do a bunch of maintenance on the car but want to make sure it will start for him and won't do this to him. ANY input on what may be wrong with the car will be GREATLY appreciated.
Also I think it may have been low on fuel/out of fuel so we put a bit in with no luck. Any chance its a fuel pump? Should I try using starter fluid to see if its a fuel problem?
Thanks ahead of time for your feedback!

 

[GRAVEDIGGER]

Yes, try to shoot it with some starting fluid, as that will quickly show if it is a fuel problem or not. If it was really that low on gas it could have run dry and killed the pump.

 

[SICK SOCIETY DSM90]

Yep running a car on low gas for to long over long period of time will heat up a fuel pump pretty quick. I had to do this one of my friends ran out of gas put more gas in didn't start we put it on flat ground started right up. the fuel pump could not pump any gas in the position it was sitting in. If you get it started with starter fluid on flat surface you maybe able to get a good indicator on bad fuel pump. also have some crank it and get under and listen and feel if you can hear the pump kicking on. if u cant hear anything then your fuel pump went out. hope you can make that sell

 

[ehc14]

Perfect, thanks for the feedback. I will be able to check a bit later today and check about the pump and will post back results!

 

[Archer Fabrications]

Well?

 

[UntouchableGST]

Is it a manual? Try to compression start it maybe that will get the fuel pump working.

 

[ehc14]

Used starting fluid on it, and it started. It needed a jump as well. I started it, let it run for about 15-20 mins and then shut it off and it would start no problem after. Maybe it was the pump? Pretty hard to say..

 

[horizontalkev]

It seems these cars car are sensitive about starting with a low battery.. Maybe it died going uphill because of low fuel and from there was the battery? Who knows hopefully the problem doesn't come back on the new owner.

 

[SICK SOCIETY DSM90]

sounds good glad that you fixed the problem. Sounds like low fuel shut car off battery went low trying to start it and you probably got air in the lines. Its a common problem when running cars low on gas. well hope the new owner has fun with the car.