2000 Venture Strange starting problem

I have a 2000 Chev Venture with 76000 miles. It suddenly decided not to start after my wife returned from the grocery. It acted flooded. It sat for over an hour and then started fine. It ran fine for many starts over the next week.

Seven days later it did the same thing. The engine turns and turns, but it fails to start. It will occasionally sputter as if it were about to start but it can't seem to get enough fuel or has too much. Then later it started. This time I noticed that the exhaust smelled strongly of fuel right after it started.

Someone told me they felt it was a fuel pump going bad. Anyone else have a suggestion or could it really be the pump? It is not signaling any codes or Service Engine notifications. All maintenance is up to date and air filter the like type items are all new.

Unfortunately, it could be any number of things. This doesn't sound like the kind of problem that can be diagnosed by description only. Checking the OBD-2 codes would be very helpful. If the engine isn't starting because it's not getting fuel, I'd check the fuel filter first, the gas cap second, and then the pump. However the fact that you notice a strong fuel smell after it starts suggests that it is getting sufficient fuel but that an ignition problem exists (ie. not getting spark). If I were to take a wild guess (and I do mean wild), I'd suspect that the fuel filter has never been changed and that after 76,000 miles and some crappy gasoline it is finally clogged. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

if you have discovered anything,i would like to find out,have the same problem with the same model.cant pinpoint it because when it does it,
it may start half an hour later or may take till next day,dealership couldnt turn up anything either aside from some expensive guesses

Your next step might be to look at the ignition coils. My Lesabre did the very same thing as well as an acquaintance's vehicle, and it turned out to be a faulty ignition coil.

Try checking the wiring to the fuel pump. There is a plug located under the vehicle near the drivers door.

Ours had a corroded connection, and once cleaned it has worked fine.

The garage couldn't find the problem, but my husband figured it out.

Hope this helps!

Try checking the wiring to the fuel pump. There is a plug located under the vehicle near the drivers door.

Ours had a corroded connection, and once cleaned it has worked fine.
My van had a simiar problem. It wasn't corroded, but the contacts were bent too far back and were not making good contact. Bending them back corrected the problem. The connector is located under the car, about a foot behind the front seat and a foot in.