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what could make my 98 s-10 go through 5 fuel pumps in 3 years

On an 02 Pontiac Grand Am I seem to have all of the symptoms of a failing fuel pump, but when the car sits for a period of time and cools off, i will turn the key and i can hear the fuel pump operating just fine. Other times if i turn the car off and right back on after driving, the pump will not make any noise at all. Most time the power will surge allowing only low speeds. It will sometimes die while driving if too much gas is applied but always starts right back up. This problem happened gradually and I recently replaced the fuel filter and it was fine city driving only for a few days. Could the fuel pump still be going bad and just losing pressure? Can I be sure this is even a problem with the pump?