fuel pump problem???

i have a 97 4.0 sohc.drives and runs great.last week my wife went to leave work and it would not start.it would turn over but not start up.i went to check on it after several hours and it fired up like nothing was wrong.drove for a few days with no problem,then on the 4th day it did it again.we were told it could be the fuel pump going bad.i was told that it might be overheating and that it has to cool down .both times that it messed up on us the engine was hot because it had not been sitting long after it had been driven.any ideas?????

Next time it won't start...have another body get under the vehicle with a piece of 2x4 and rap the gas tank while you turn it over. If it starts ..it's likely your fuel pump going bad. Now don't put a hole in your fuel tank but hit hard enough to jolt the pump. I've been told they get bad spots in them and they hang up. It worked for me on 2 occasions. Enough time to get it fixed.

You also get this problem when your cataletyc converter is pluged, you can have a diagnostic ran for that.