Hard Starting Van

I am having cold start problem with my 4.3 Safari van. It started about 3 months ago and has gotten worse over time. The starter motor will crank over fine, but takes a significant amount to get running.I have recently changed the fuel filter, pcv, plugs, wires, air, and several feet of cracked vacuum tubing. All in an effort to get this beast running again. After reading several posts and the computer throwing a code 32, I removed th EGR valve, cleaned a large piece of carbon out of it and cleared the ECM. As a side note, the vehicle only produced a code once and long after all the cold start problems. Once it is running, it runs fine, plenty of power. It is just getting it started. The really odd symptom is this: I can crank the motor forever and the vehicle will not start. BUT... when I hook up the jumper cables and try it, it fires up like there is no problem. This is not from a dead battery, from a fully charged battery condition. Any thoughts?? ALSO:yes, I can hear the fuel pump running, can smell the fuel after cranking. may be wrong, but I dont think its fuel related.

After several attempts and several hundered dollars, it runs again. I did not think it was the fuel pump, but low and behold it was. After changing the pump, pulsator and pick-up screen the van starts in seconds. It has not run this good since it was new.

I had the same thing happen with my van after the pump died and I replaced it. It runs like it has a brand new engine. I would swear at least 20+more HP it feels like. It's just smoother and has so much more power it's hard to believe it's the same van. Wife.com even noticed the improvement....

get a fuel pressure gauge and check the starting fuel pressure. had a similar problem. pump would run but was not making enough for starting. should be between 52 and 64 psi for start and drops 3 to 10 for run.i have 97 and changing fuel pump was the fix for me.van runs great, can't remember last time it put down rubber.