Thanks for all the earlier replies. Ok, so i replaced the fuel pump relay. purchased a "stribel" relay. It came in a Meyle box and looked like the volvo oem but made in Hungary vs. made in Germany on the original. Anyhow, test drove the car and within 10 minutes it stumbled and died. Sort of started again running very rough and i was on the side of the road. It died totally and would only crank over. I popped the hood. checked for spark, nice fat spark on the coil to distributor wire so i assumed continued fueling issues. I listened for the pump when i turned the key. Not sure about the first few times but i could hear the short pump activation after turning the key to on for several times. I decided to do that about 10 times without trying to start. Then i turned it to start and it started up [rough to start] but then smoothed out and i drove it home uneventfully. I guess it is possible the new relay is daft but since it acted exactly the same as it did with the original relay, i need to look elsewhere. Perhaps the pump is actually failing intermittently....ideas???