check engine light , rough running

Hello, I am new to this board and here's my problem. Recently the van was run empty on gas ( to the bone, nothing in the tank) ..I had to put some gas in it, it started up and I made it to a gas station with no problem. It ran fine the next day,but the following day started running rough and the engine light came on. Did running out of gas do something to the system? ..what can I check...thanks

Your fuel pump is located in your gas tank. Maybe you fried it when you ran out of gas.

Your fuel pump is located in your gas tank. Maybe you fried it when you ran out of gas.
Would the van still run though,if the fuel pump was fried? ...It does run with a slight hesitation in acceleration..

Or perhaps you clogged up the screen or the fuel filter.

As a first move I would replace the fuel filter

Yes. DRW1000 is right. Fuel Filter first.

Karl

Have the check engine light diagnosed also. Have the codes read and post back here. If dirt got through the filter, it may have plugged an injector.

What year model are we talking about?

1998 windstar 3.8 v-6....thank you all for your inciteful posts, I will try and do what has been advised..Frank