Sudden strange starting issue, The plot thickens Options

[emerygt350]

The past two days, cold start took longer than normal. Cranked maybe 8 times before starting. This morning it took twice that, and now all of a sudden at the grocery store after starting just fine at my office (3 block drive, engine never even got warm). It will sounds like it's going to catch but doesn't. Definitely smell gas, but not gassy. More like spark issue. I checked the wires to the coil, all seemed fine. Have not done any work on the engine for weeks. Since it happened in a busy parking lot I couldn't tell if the pump was running. Got it started, drove home 3 blocks. Starts right up again no problem.

This isn't going to be cool at Watkins glen in two weeks. I need to figure this out.

I'm thinking it's wiring to the coil. God I hope it's not the fuel pump. Next time I will have to juice it with some fluid to see if it's fueling. I don't want to put my fuel pressure gauge back in there if I don't have to.

[GregAmy]

For fun, try jumping the fuel pump relay and see if the problem continues.

Small amount of wire, crimp on two male terminals, remove fuel pump relay and insert the jumper between 30 and 87 (diagram on the relay).

If the problem continues, and you can hear the fuel pump running, then it's not that circuit.

Note this causes the pump to stay on with the key off, so do remove it after testing. And avoid using it all the time as the pump will continue to run if you're upside down and the engine isn't running...