Sorry for the long message, but I need to tell the story.
I took the car to a Ford dealer in Northern VA and had a new fuel pump installed and new plugs. I drove it five miles and the check engine light came on again. I immediately went back to the dealer and I was told the code was a faulty front O2 sensor. I bought one and they installed the next day. The check engine light stayed off. The mechanic cleared all the codes by disconnecting the battery. For some reason, he told me the car alarm was not working as usual. It did not chirp when I locked the doors. I spent about $1,600 at the dealership on replacing the fuel pump, an alignment, and changing the plugs. When I questioned the cost, I was told that these were the standard rates for Northern VA. At least they did the O2 sensor for free.
I began my trip from Virginia to Massachusetts. After driving about 100 miles, I pulled over at a rest stop and when I tried to start the car, the engine would begin to come to life and then shut off with all of the warning lights across the bottom of dash lighting up. A second try yielded the same result. After a third try with the accelerator to the floor, the car started and the engine ran perfectly. I had to stop again later and I had the same problem. It was very hard to get the warm engine to start. After a couple of tries, the starter would sound weak and click and then turn over the engine. This created a lot of stress during my 450 mile journey. I could not trust the car to start on a warm engine.
After arriving at my destination with the car sitting overnight, I started the cold engine in the morning without a problem. I drove it for about 15 minutes; parked it for 10 minutes, and when I tried to start the warm engine, I had the same starting problem. Once started, the engine ran fine but I had intermittent check engine light coming on and then off.
I have parked the car in the garage and I do not want to take it out until we can figure this out. I am not very knowledgeable about this stuff and would appreciate any advice and help. I also need the name of a good mechanic in Worcester MA who can fix the car.