Thank you for closing the issue, so many leave their posts unclosed, and the next guy with same issue leads to a dead end.
Second that! This thread saved me from insanity...
I changed my fuel pump after it quit working. Recently bought an OE Denso pump because I found my old pump had seized. I found some rusty water in the tank low point, 23 years of condensation and probably too much time sitting over several winters (the rest of the tank seemed to be quite clean and rust free). Anyway after I cleaned the bottom of the tank, flushed it and rinsed it with acetone I installed the new pump and strainer. I confirmed that the old pump was toast by connecting it to the battery, it didn't spin.
Before I put the seats back in I figured I'd better check to make sure that it delivered fuel. First try it didn't start. Cranked it again and it fired up, not as briskly as it usually does, but it started. I figured that it was due to having to charge the dry fuel line but left the seats out while I worked on other things, I wasn't completely confident in it given the initial hesitation to start. I moved the Cruiser around the driveway several times over the next couple of weeks without issue, and one morning when I need to get it out of the way it wouldn't start. It was stuck in a really inconvenient place so the next day before dragging the winch line out, I tried starting it - and it fired right up. Then later that day, it wouldn't start.
Figured I'd better go through everything properly to try to diagnose the problem - I was planning on taking the Cruiser on an overnight off-road excursion and didn't want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere trying to figure it out. Pulled out the factory manual, checked the relays, EFI and fuel pump, checked the fuel pump resistor (resistance was not what it should have been according to the manual, but reading other threads it didn't seem to be an uncommon occurrence and it didn't seem it would cause a no start condition) everything seemed to check out.
I had read that the fuel pump connector that is along side the frame rail in front of the rear driver's wheel well is prone to failure. Because it was an intermittent problem it was likely to be a connector I thought I'd better rule it out - though this one didn't seem to be the problem, it was tight and clean inside.
After several days of messing around I was at a loss, I had removed the new fuel pump from the tank after checking everything else, put it back in after powering it directly from the battery and it started. Then the next day it quit again. I was about to buy another fuel pump because checking it with an ohm meter before removing it from the tank it showed infinite resistance.
I thought I'd have another look here on 'Mud specifically for fuel pump problems and I came across this thread. I pulled the fuel pump connector apart and bent the pins in the connector, like the OP suggested, and checked it with the ohm meter. There was a bit more "drag" when I put the connector together and the infinite resistance was gone. Put the pump back in the tank and it fired right up. I'm fairly confident that this was the problem, definitely worth checking the newer Denso fuel pumps for a weak in-tank connector.
