? about fuel pump

Should not hurt it. but who knows. .

Wouldn't an '87 YJ have a mechanical fuel pump since it has a carburetor?

Sounds like you have a clogged fuel line. You may have picked up some sludge from the gas tank when you ran it dry.

It could be a 2.5 L , that would have FI, with a throttle body.. Up to 92 in a 258 would be carbs. But I think they still have a low pressure electric in the tank.

Remove the fuel filter and change it. If you picked up sludge then it's probably clogged. While you have it disconnected, disconnect the fuel line from where it connects to the engine and blow it out with compressed air. If it still doesn't work when you re-attach everything then you can drop the tank to see if the pick up screen in the tank is clogged or check the carb/fuel intake to see if something is gunked up in that. I'd do the intake before dropping the tank. BUT if you DO find it was sludge picked up in the tank then you may want to drop the tank anyway to check it's integrity.

Quote from luis

its my yj. Is there anything electrical that would affect it? i was told that the fuse for the dome lamp also ran the pump. i checked that and it was fine. is there anything else electrical that i should check?

right under the drivers fender a harness drops to the fuel tank. the orange wire is the power to the pump. use a tester and check it.
if all is good, have someone lay under the rear of the jeep and listen to the fuel tank closely when u turn the key "on". should hear the pump running. THEN, disconnect the fuel line from the carb. turn the key on. u should e getting fuel/air out of the line.....
just a few troubleshooters before you start dropping tanks and whatnot. think u can drop the electric and hook up a mechanical off the side of the block for about 15 bucks at autozone. NO ELECTRIC... i love it.

still kind of confused about the carb/electric fuel pump combo. are you positive u have an electric fuel pump AND carb???