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As many of us suspected, the fuel pump was bad. It just died stone cold without any prior symptoms. So, my son and I replaced it today. He couldn't afford a Motorcraft pump so he picked up one at NAPA (against my recommendations). However, he did warn the guy at the parts counter that he would expect a full refund if the part failed within a year....NOT a replacement, a full refund. So, the guy went back behind the counter and pulled out another fuel pump. It was still in a NAPA box, but it was made by Bosch. The box says "Premium" so maybe it's a bit better than their standard pump. I guess we'll see. The part number is N67003. We'll see how long it lasts.
I had my fuel pump fail while my 96 was idling in the drive before I went to work, so this does happen. As per the replacement fuel pump's quality...
I had my fuel pump fail on my 95 in 04. I bought a cheep carquest replacement. It ended up being the wrong pump (wires were right and everything seemed ok, but the body was too long and would bottom out in the tank). I popped off the outer body of my factory pump and swapped it with the carquest pump, and it ended up working just fine. That pump worked from 04 till 07 when I crashed the 95. I pulled the same carquest pump out and put it in my 96 last fall, and so far it still works great. I would hope that anybody's pump would easily work well over a couple years.