ran out of gas, refueled and doesnt start

my brother ran is 88 cherokee completely out of gas and went to start it for this weekends trip, after he refueled it, and it cranks but won't start. I checked to see if there was fuel in the fuel rail by pushing in on that vaulve and no fuel came out. it should be under pressure and full of fuel right. Did he burn up the fuel pump by trying to crank it too many times? And while he was cranking before he put fuel in it, the fuel gauge went past F and all the way at 3 o clock. any ideas?

Never mind, so my stupid brother decided to cut out his rear fenders this week for tire clearance. and he cut through all the wires with the grinder running to the back on the drivers side. So the fuel pump definetely isnt getting power now.

Not a good idea to run a fuel injected engine out of gas, especially the older ones.

On a 1988, assuming the gas tank and gas lines and such are still the originals, you've (well, he does, since its not your Jeep) got 20 years of junk that has accumulated in the bottom of the tank. Running it bone dry like that, allowed the fuel pump to suck in all that crap.

More than likely, the fuel system is blocked and needs to be cleaned out. I hope for his sake, the fuel pump is not trashed. I would definitely recommend dropping the tank and replacing the fuel filter (and while you're in there, might wanna throw a pump on...because even if you do get it running again, I would imagine this shortened what life it had left significantly). As for clearing the lines, you might have to pull them and use air to blow them out.

If/when you get this thing running again, run a can of good fuel SYSTEM cleaner through, to help clean out the injectors, and the rest of the system you didn't replace (or can't get to).

Oh well, ok...now that you know the pump isnt getting power....i'd start there

If you can get it running again, i'd still definitely run a good fuel SYSTEM cleaner (not just injector cleaner, but SYSTEM cleaner) through....this will help to get rid of any gunk that might be in the lines, in the injectors...etc etc.