Vw Mk3 2.0 Vw

I have a 1995 jetta gl 2.0 manual transmission. while driving there was a hissing sound coming from the engine compartment for 5 seconds, the orange engine and lightning bolt, light appeared in my dash cluster and the car stopped running, it barely started enuff to get through a left hand turn and into a parking lot and the motor stopped running again. the passanger cab smelled like sulfur for a few minutes. the car cranks but does not fire and will not start for a second. i have fuel in the tank, plugs, cap, wires ok, small fuses under dash look intact. battery has a charge and the motor does not fire up. should i be able to hear a sound near the rear of the car on the passanger side to indicate when the fuel pump gets activated? i dont hear a sound from this area when trying to start the car. any diagnosis assistance would be helpfull. also, would a handheld obd computer from say napa plug into my car and feed me info on what this type of breakdown is caused by? say a faulty fuel pump or whatever. thanks.

Unless the car is sitting in a noisy area, you should be able to hear the soft hum from the fuel pump while sitting in the car. By lying down beside the pump, with an accomplise turning the ignition to -on- I think it more likely you would be able to feel the pump running than hear the hum from outside the car. It should hum for just under 2 seconds. Otherwise you may have a bad fuel pump relay, or bad fuel pump, or other problem preventing the pump from working. The newer the car the more interlocks they seem to have that prevent the pump from starting. There cars that will not start if the fuel cap is even loose.