Fuel pump not priming

Hello folks.
I have (up to now) a relativity trouble free '98 20vt coupe. In the last month it has let me down twice by not firing up when starting it. I've figured out that the fuel pump isn't priming on those occasions when I turn on the ignition. Can anyone give me any pointers on where to start trying to fix or even trace the fault. Any help will be appreciated.
Thank you.
Stephen.

HI and welcome Stephen.
Under the driver side dash there is a large yellow connector,sometimes it starts to fail.
If you see any burn marks etc on the yellow it will need taking apart and the wires soldering up.

Or under passenger side there is a pair of relays,one of them is for the pump,mine failed intermittently. Swap it around with the one next to it or replace both with new ones.

As magoo says: Fuel pump relais could be a problem.

In addition to that: Check GND wires and connections at both battery to chassis to gear box as well as GND connection on pump side. My GND wire was virtually gone and fell apart at the chassis connection point when I touched it. That explained some strange things happening the weeks before. It looked alright but was only held together by two or three copper strands when it finally failed.

It would intermittantly conduct or not, depending on bending and moisture level. Sometimes it would start without a problem, sometimes the fuel pump would whine and the starter motor would turn veeeery slowly.

Main thing to look at will however be the fuel pump relais.

Hello gents. Thanks for the guidance, had a big wedding weekend so haven't got to look at the car yet, but I'll def start the relays but typical that's it starting every time now its back home and in the shed. I had checked the wiring going into the pump and a quick look at the pump side ground wire and it looked and felt OK. A mechanic had suggested the fuel cut off switch but I couldn't find one on the car or any guidance to one online. Cheers for the help, I'll keep you posted. Thanks. Stephen.

thanks for the help gents, The car has been starting fine since then. I've purchased new relays to keep till the next time it happens to check of its those. the yellow connector seems to be OK, no burn marks etc. I have also delved into the boot space to try and locate the pump ground on the chassis which I assumed was in the boot somewhere, but it seems to disappear in through the panel to the passenger area.Can you tell me where the ground for the pump usually is? I'd still like to check it out anyway.

The fuel cut off inertia is drivers side footwell by the bonnet pull. Cylinder type with a button on top...doesn't sound like that though does sound wiring related ...have you pulled the pump out and had a look..fairly simple job to lift the swirl pot and could be something obvious pump end

Fuel pump relay in the passenger side footwell, see one of my first posts for more details

it was the crank sensor for me. no voltage to the fuel pump and cutting out when hot/ not restarting till cold . if you can, see if you have any fault codes

So far the car hasn't let me down (starting wise anyway) since I bought the relay ready to swap it around when it next happened. The only fault I've had is the no. 4 injector cutting out, I've swapped it for a cleaned one via Mr. Injector Uk so I should be back to normal again.
Thanks
Stephen