I thought this might be related to my other post about bogging.

A few months ago I noticed I couldn't hear the familiar groan from the fuel pump when I turned the key to on, but didn't start the car.

The car still starts up right away, as though there is plenty of fuel pressure at the engine.

Maybe I'm losing my hearing or something. I can't hear it with the door open or closed, gas cap on or off.

My grasping at straws moment here is that maybe I have intermittent low fuel pressure that is causing the bogging problem (from my rodent post). Maybe the fuel pump is working, but inconsistently.

Thanks for listening.

 

Maybe the FP Relay? Cheap and easy enough to replace and see what happens. Have you check fuel pressure?

 

Metalhead, as far as I know the pump is the original. I bought the car with 112,000 miles on it. Now has 157,000 miles. Have not checked fuel pressure. Maybe that's the next item to buy, a fuel pressure guage.

 

At 157,000 I'd definitely consider a new fuel pump, but you can test the original one easy. To be certain it's the pump, run +12v to the G terminal on the ALDL under the dash. This bypasses everything fuel pump related except the fuse under the dash, and should force it to run. The car still starts up though, so it sounds like everything is doing its job. Definitely look into that gauge tho, and get back to us