Land Rover Repair: 99 Discovery II wont start, crank sensor, fuel pump

Question
Hello,first thanks, wifes car was in the shop the other day and she drove mine. It wouldn't crank in a store parking lot, so i went and got her, i checked it out and thought it may be an alarm problem, i locked and unlocked and it cranked and i came home, well the next day it stalled on her on highway. I met her and a freind helped me look at it on the side of the road. Everything looked ok, couldn't hear the fuel pump so my friend kicked at the back of the tank and it started??? i drove a few miles and it died again, i kicked at the tank again and it started and i made it almost home, then it wouldn't crank again at all, we towed it a couple of blocks home. When switch is turned over the fuel pump does not come on, i checked relay, and i used a jump wire and the pump started running but didn't crank. I sprayed ether in and it made it sound different when spinning over but no crank. Only thing i could think of was the crank sensor? Sorry so long, i wanted to tell the whole story. Lin

Answer
You are right that there may be a crank sensor failure.  Kicking the tank and starting may be coincidence, or it may point to a failing fuel pump too.  I urge you to cease use of ether as it can crank pistons and leave you with a really high $$ repair.  Id guess the problem is one of those two things.  Trouble is, neither will set a fault code so you either test manually or guess.