Possible Cause of Hard Start and No Fuel Pressure

During a Q
& A session at Corvettes at Carlisle 2001 Gordon Killebrew mentioned one
cause of fuel pump problems.
Under the plate that secures the fuel
pump assembly to the top of the gas tank is a small black connector. With
time the pins and socket of this connector can become oxidized to such an
extent that power to the fuel pump is interrupted. This condition can
appear as an intermittent or a complete failure to pressurize the fuel
rail.
Sometimes a sharp rap or two on the top of the filler neck to
the gas tank is enough to jar the connections to temporarily restore power
to the fuel pump.
The fix to this problem is to remove the fuel
pump assembly and separate this connector from it’s mating pins, clean
the pins till bright again and use contact cleaner to clean the mating
sockets.
I personally saw Mr. Killebrew successfully administer
both solutions to the failed fuel pump connection on one of our cars at
the 35th Anniversary tent at the Carlisle gathering.