my 99 ford contour ran out of gas and now it won't start. put fuel in, the fuel pump is working. they car started at first but when i would push down on the gas it would bog out and die, now the car won't start at all. we tried spraying carb cleaner into the engine, that seemed like it was gonna work, but it didn't. we even took the fuel filter off and tried to clean it out. any ideas??????

 

Sometimes the fuel injectors can get air bound and cannot inject air.
Keep trying and make sure you are getting fuel up to the engine past the filter that may look good but still be clogged enough to prevent fuel from getting up to the engine.

 

that's my next step. buying a fuel filter and go from there. we tried for a few hours to get it to start. now the battery is almost dead.

 

There is a strainer at the intake of the fuel pump. If there was dirt in the tank when it ran out of gas it may have clogged the strainer.

Do not over-use the starter. You risk overheating and killing it. You can try 3 x for a few seconds then you need to let it cool off for maybe an hour.