2000 Cougar will not start

[btroy]

Hi guys I am having an issue with my duaghters Cougar.

It would not start the other morning and it just rained out so I thought that might have something to do with it not starting. Anyway the car cranks but just will not start. The other day when this happened I held the gas down and then just cranked on it for about 1 minute and it started.

Didn't have an issue until yesterday when it did it again. Once again it has rained the day before. Now I only mention this because both days it had the starting issue it had rain prior to that. This may or may not have something to do with it I don't know.

Short of the fuel cutoff switch by the front door and the fuel pump fuses what else could stop the car from starting.

This is a manual trans. has 150k miles, run good when it starts. No check engine lights on the dash are on.

I am thinking it maybe getting water inthe distrib.

How do I go about checking to see if it is getting fuel? Anyway to test the fuel pump?

Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

[rhandwor]

Pull a spark plug with it inserted into the plug wire. Use an insulated pair of channel locks. Hold the plug touching a good ground and have somebody else try to start the car. Watch the plug if it sparks you have a fuel problem.

[btroy]

ok I have a fuel problem.

What is odd the car will not start and then I removed the fuel cap to see if I could hear the fuel pump engergize, after I reinstalled the cap the car started. ????

Could a bad fuel cap cause this issue?

Could releiving the pressure in the tank be an indication the fuel pump maybe going out?

BTW this is a trhrottle body type engine

[rhandwor]

Use a DVOM and check for proper voltage to the fuel pump. It could be a bad wire,poor ground or a bad fuel pump relay. Do some checking before changing a fuel pump. Their should be a plug around the top of the fuel tank.