FPRLeak

This is for a heads up. The FPR on our '97 developed a large leak last week. The FPR failure was diagnosed as diaphram failure. My wife had said she ocassionally smelled something but I could not pin it down. She had mentioned nothing about hard starting. When I took it in to the dealer (suck truck) I was told that the original FPR was used when the fuel rails were replaced. There is a housing for the FPR built into the new front rail. I had pulled the engine cover off to see what was leaking and noticed the vacuum hose to the FPR was not on the nipple. It was so loose it would not stay on. I don't know if this could have caused the failure or not. The hose fits the nipple on the new FPR as it should. I would appreciate if anyone can post the function of that vac hose.
Anyone who has had the fuel rails replaced needs to keep their nose open for gas fumes and check the vac hose to the FPR. Seems like the FPR would be a candidate for 50K replacement. We have 68K on this one and have enjoyed every one of them.