what are the symptoms of a bad fuel pump?

car started up...10 secs later died...cant get it started now...its cranking but wont catch...any ideas?

Bad fuel pumps can present with many symptoms but the two that most people experience is a lack of power while trying to accelerate or a no start condition. My Escort ran fine one day. Shut it off, the next morning it would not start. Fuel pump died. When you turn the key on do you hear the pump? You should hear it for a couple of seconds when the key is turned to the on position. If not then the pump is probably bad. If you hear it you may have a blocked fuel filter or a problem in the ignition system. My best guess is to replace the pump and it should start just fine.