my truck wont start, fuel system help

k guys, i need some help. when i was at itb this year i came out and tried starting my truck one morning and it just cranked and wouldnt fire, so i listened for the fuel pump and didnt hear it like i usually can. so i thought my pump went out . I tried starting the truck again 30 minutes later and it started right up. this boggled my mind because i hadnt changed anything or done anything differently, so i thought the pump must be good but didnt know why it had acted that way. well it did it again, but this time it hasnt started up. i took the bed off the truck and checked the wiring and it all looks ok. first off , does it sound like the fuel pump is shot? what can i do to check to see if it is the pump before gettin a new one?

Go to the rear driver side of the frame and reconnect the ground you had to remove from the rear to take off the bed. this is the fuel pump ground. maybe its loose.. check your fuses

well the fuel pump ground was already moved and grounded to the frame when i had all the bedwork done so i havent messed with that and that ground is good. i was told there is a fuse or relay behind the dash that i should check? is this true for a 96 sonoma? what is the best way to check the fuel pump?

On my 98, the fuse is under the hood, the relay is marked, but the fuse is labeled "ECM B", not just fuel pump. I had a similar problem, turned out that the power wire to the pump was resting on the back of the block and shorting out the fuse when I would hit bumps. Took forever to find, but was an easy fix. Hope this helps

To test the pump though, I just put straight power to it for a second, and made sure it turned on, bypassed all the b.s. You may need a diag for the 96, on my 98 it was the brown wire I believe that gave power.

so just test all the wires goin to the pump and make sure its getting power, then if it is getting power ill know its the pump?

What I did was clip the power wire near the pump, and put power straight from the battery to see if it turned on. When it did, I knew I had to trace the prob. all the way back to the panel.

Damn, im havin the same problem right now with my truck. When you find out what it is let me know.

I had that problem with my tahoe. It turned out to be the connector that runs to the fuel pump. I was told this is a common problem with the connector. It gets hot and then will cut off. Its like it loses connection when it gets hot. I took the old one off and put a new one on and havent had anymore problems.

man this sounds like the same problem i am having with my 94 fullsize. I wouldnt start one day then i came back the next and it started, it idled fine in park and continued running, then i drove it for like 30 sec. until it bogged down and died and wouldnt start again.