94 Mazda Protege DX

 

That could be a lot of things. The ones that come to mind are:
1) There is a pre-filter in the tank, often called a sock that may be clogged. Rust and debris in the tank, etc...
2) The fuel pump may be going bad.
3) The fuel evap return system might not be sealed any longer. Leaky hose. Bad gas cap, etc.
4) And any one of a number of sensors that read the engine condition may be weak or faulty.

I know that's not much to go on by itself, but it is a 17 yr old car. Who knows what's been done to it, and how well it was maintained. It might just be something simple like a leaky intake or vacuum hose?

 

i've got a '95 and had some pump issues. you can access easily by removing the rear seat. seat pulls up and right out. then there's a panel in floorboard to remove to get to gas tank. another panel comes out of the tank with the fuel pump attached. you can remove pump and take far away from gas tank, let dry from fuel and check with meter to see if coils are OK. can check if pump running by connecting across the battery with jumper wires. only connect just long enough to see it if runs, don't keep running as it is normally cooled by the gasoline in the tank. be very careful working around open and exposed gas in the tank.

also, the computer will not turn on the fuel pump relay if the distributor is not sparking, so could be anything in that chain-- computer, distributor, relay, pump. i've got a similar issue right now with my 95 in that it only on occasion will not start after being run for awhile-- if it turn it off, it won't start again, but will if let sitting an hour or so. if you find a solution please post back to the forum so we can all learn. good luck.