1998 Pontiac Grand Am Car cranks, but wont start

My son owns a 98 Grand Am that cranks, but only starts and runs sometimes. We will attempt tom start it and maybe after 20 to 30 attempts, it will start and run, but once the engine is shut off, it wont start again. Sometimes for days at a time. We replace the fuel filter and fuel pressure regulator, but that didnt seem to fix the problem. Today, he noticed after the car did start the rpm gauge was not working, and only a minute after the car was idling, would the gauge begin to work, but once it did, the car died. He said this happened every time the car started.