Bad fuel pump

If you have a bad fuel pump (or going bad), is it possible to only have problems while you are trying to start the car?

Not necessairily, the fuel pump is constantly running whenever the engine is running, so a faulty fuel pump can show symptoms at any time. However the pump does have to work harder for starting the car.

I have been a victim of fuel pump failure. Mine started to fail while I was going up a hill after it downshifted. I noticed some surging. Then I put it to the floor and noticed I was still losing speed and the transmission dropped to 2nd gear. After I crested over the hill, it seemed fine for a while and I gained a little speed for the next hill just in case. It still seemed fine until I had to go through construction where it started to miss and cough. At this time, the fuel pump was barely working. Then the check engine light came on. So I pulled into a parking lot and checked the code and it said O2 sensor, which also means that it's running too lean and the ECU just can't supply it enough fuel to make it happy. I decided that I was better off to cancel my doctor's appointment I was headed to and try to limp my van to my Aunt and Uncle's place in that area. I pulled over several times to give it a rest and let traffic go by. Then I jump out there, gain as much speed possible, then pull over again. Let's see. I pissed off some people that day too. I had people floor it passed me, tailgate me, and possibly give me the Californian howdy. Oh yeah, I even made a right turn on red without stopping and a cop honked at me and went around me. I flipped on my hazards after he did that and left me alone. Amazingly enough, I made it, just barely.

Ended up leaving the van there until the weekend came up where my dad and I can spend a day there replacing the fuel pump out in the street. Haven't had a problem since.

These are the types of symptoms I would have expect with a failing fuel pump, but I have never had any problems other than when starting the car (or failing to start as it is). In addition, it only seems to happen when the car has been driven a while, sits for 20-30 minutes, and then you try to start it again. It doesn't start, but if you let it sit for 5-7 hours it always starts again.

sounds like a heat-soak condition. generally speaking, fuel pumps that a re bad tend to bleed off reserve pressure quickly... making the car hard to start after a few hours of sitting. i might start checking other avenues, like ignition. you may have a coil going bad.

what kinda car?

I have a heat soak restart condition too. But it's only because the pressure regulator is too low. With mine, it just takes longer to start. Very rarely it'll sound a little chuggy for a couple minutes until it clears up. This condition was common in the 84-88 Toyota Vans. In 89, Toyota upgraded to a higher pressure regulator. So, I basically have to install an 89 pressure regulator and my hot soak restart behavior will be over. I'm not too worried about it at the moment. But someday, I'll do this fix.

It is a 2001 Ford Taurus.