Crank no start. Fuel pump not coming on.

I have a 2003 or 2004 Ford Explorer. It’s a
friends so it’s one or the other. It would start
until we reset everything by draining all the
stored voltage by touching the battery terminals
together for a few seconds. After that the car
cranks and then doesn’t start. He had a
locksmith come and they keys are fine if you hit
it with starter fluid it will start. We have hit the
inertia switch for fuel pump also. Need
suggestions please