I am beginning to suspect feul pressure, as the culprit causing hard starting.
Will these engines run with a fuel pump out? Do these pumps fail totally or do they sometimes just run at low pressure?
I've never seen one on a Chevy run low. They just run or don't.

The toyota manual has you pinch check the line for pressure ( not specified how much) in the line when trouble shooting hard starting due to a pump.

I'll go out later and pinch check the fuel line for pressure . It is a 96 3.4l