Fuel pump not turning on right away

I've got a starting problem that seems to be getting worse with time. It now takes about 10 secs of cranking before my '89 4.0 XJ will start. The problem is the fuel pump isn't coming on right away like it should. After cranking for a while you can hear the pump turn on and then it starts right up. It doesn't matter if it's hot or cold although it seems to be even harder to start if it was only off for a short period of time like when I get gas. The pump is pretty new, it's a carter (pep boys) brand pump. I'm just hoping to get ideas on where to look for the fix.

Thanks for the help!

I guess no one can figure out what could cause this. Is it possible that the sound you hear turn on is something else. Would it make sense to verify the fuel pump turning on late by listening in the back of the XJ while someone else turns the key, or listening underneath, or putting a fuel pressure gae on the fuel rail? The next step (or the first step if you are positive you are right) would be to check for voltage coming out of the fuel pump relay. Do you see the 10 second delay there? If you have the fuel pump resistor, bypass that for full voltage (Do that first).

From one beater to another, thanks for the help! haha

I am certain it's the pump turning on. It's a familiar sound and the only thing in that back that would make that sound. As with most cars/trucks it used to do it when I turned the key on without starting the engine but it doesn't anymore. And another way to verify it without actually hooking a pressure gauge to rail is that when I stop for a short period of time and restart the motor it will fire right up because of left fuel in the lines but die right away. It won't restart until after cranking for a while and the pump comes back on.

As for the resistor, I saw something about that when I was searching and I think that is for later models but I'm not 100%. I'll get someone else to crank it for me while checking voltage at the relay too.

check to see if you have voltage when turning the key on, and then when cranking. if so its probably the fuel pump losing prime when sitting for a while. if it doesnt have power, bypass the ballast resistor and see if it improves.

Don't forget, key on only activates the fuel pump for 3 seconds unless it sees a crank signal. So turning the key to run, only runs the pump for 3 seconds, then it stops. When cranking, pump is also activated.

Well here's something interesting. It is apparently temperature related. It's now in the 60s-70s here and the jeep starts fine. It still takes a couple of seconds but that's to be expected.