have a 96 ram 1500 5.2L its been hard starting for about a year now, so when its cold i have been doing key on twice before starting which solves the hard start. I currently don't have the money for a new fuel pump so my question is will it give me a reliability issue or is the fpr problem mostly just a hard start issue. I just don't want to be stranded somewhere because i didn't find a way to replace the fuel pump sooner.

 

It's something that's likely to bite you in the backside without further warning. Start saving your nickels and dimes if you don't want to find yourself walking down the shoulder of the road.

At the moment you've got a failed pressure regulator. Whatever caused it to fail has also been at work on the remainder of the pump. Ya rolls yer dice ya takes yer chances.