No Prime, Sad Time (COR Relay?)

So many fuel pump threads, but I haven't found this one...

2000 3RZ-FE starts fine, but fuel pump will not prime with key ON. Per the picture, the ground side of the COR is not grounded with the key ON, but does ground and start the pump with key at START. Manual is clear that COR should close with key ON. My miniature electrical brain can only think there are different ground paths inside the ECM and the ground path for key ON is no good.

I recently had to kick the fuel tank to start the car, so I'ma guessing I'll replace the fuel pump (original @185k). But hate to do that without addressing this prime issue in case that led to the pump problem.

Thanks for any hints!

 

There was a lesson I once learned as a junior tech doing electrical troubleshooting; check power, check electrical connections (meaning un-seat/re-seat), etc.

As a first series of steps I would recommend that you check as many connection points to see if there is any visible (sometimes invisible) corrosion that could be hampering a particular electrical circuit. Use a green scrubby pad to ‘burnish’ connections where possible. A relay could have a faulty contact(s) so an ohmmeter is your friend here.