97 F150 XLT 4x4 w/4.6 V8 Automatic

So last weekend I was driving and while going at a constant pace 2 the trucks rpms dropped and bucked. Went away and drove fine. Next day in the morning it ran fine. Started fine, idled fine. In the afternoon on the way home it acted up 3 times in a row and then finally shut off. Wouldn't start for me again. It cranks but does not start. Got it towed home and then the tow driver got in it to back off of the bed and it started right up. Turned it off and sat for a few minutes. I got in it and it started right up. I was able to rev it up too.

From posting on here and a few friends we came to the conclusion fuel pump was going bad. So the next day went to turn it on to drive it in the garage, would'nt start. If you spray starter fuel in the throttle body it'll start for that few seconds. Then dies.

So here is what we did:

Replaced the fuel pump and strainer last night. Double checked the connectors on wires by the fuel tank. It did the same. after about 15 minutes of looking over the wires again and checking the Fuel pump fuse, fuel pump relay block, and the safety switch in the cabin still nothing. Last time I went ahead and pushed the throttle down a bit and cranked the key. It started, idled fine. So i got in it and drove it about 60 seconds nad it died again. Wont start again.

We are clueless now.


--We replaced the fuel pump
--switched the fuel pump relay block with another, still the same results
--fuel filter was replaced about 5k miles ago

Would the fuel pump safety switch on the passenger side kick panel keep the pump from running if its going bad? I tried pushing down on the button, but it will not go down. Like it's stuck. Perhaps it spring loaded only when it's triggered on impact.

Someone know what else to check?
Help!!!!

Since it runs fine when it gets fuel we dont thing its spark related. Just takes fuel away for some reason like a bad ground or something, or sensor. We tested the old pump by hooking up a 12v source and it ran.