1989 240 has new battery, started yesterday, now won't stay on
 

I'm new to this forum and don't know a lot about cars in general, so I appreciate any help you guys can give!

This is my second post. The first didn't go through. anyway.....

The 240 has been sitting in my driveway since September. It was running before I stopped using it. It hadn't been started since it's been sitting.

I replaced the battery with a new Everlast MAXX H5 battery from Walmart yesterday. I did it myself (I'm a single mom and did this with instructions from a coworker-hopefully didn't screw something up).

The car started with the new battery. Headlights and taillights came on. I drove the car for about 10 mins, then let it idle for about 30 minutes. I didn't put new gas in the car; there was just a little bit of old gas.

This morning, I go to start the car. The engine starts, then immediately cuts off. When this happens, all the display lights light up.

What could be wrong? What should i check? Also, it rained rally hard last night. Did something under the hood get wet, that wasn't supposed to?

Go get some gas first and put it in the tank,as much as you can.Your pump could be defekt because of rust to the fuelpipes around the pump and it may not be working 100% and you may need more gas in the tank for it to work.If your car starts working after filling up the gas then remember never to drive with less than 25% gas in the tank or better still get the pump changed.

Hard rain should NOT be a factor. Is there gas in the car now? You MAY have a charging problem, new battery ran itself down if the ALTERNATOR was not charging. Make sure you have GAS and a FULLY CHARGED BATTERY, try again to start it/run it, report back.

sicnarf and lev, THANK YOU!!!! I put about 5 gallons of new gas in, and it started. I did have to hit the gas as the car was starting to get it to "catch" and keep running (what's that about?) but it's driveable.

You may have other running problems. A car sitting for a long time without use develops issues...

Just provide more info in your posts. It's not easy diagnosing car issues sight unseen.

Your fuel pump is rusty or the pipes going from the fuel pump.Screw open the cover over the fuelpump and take a look at it.Think the pump can be accessed from the booth of the car if you screw open the cover over it.Could be so that this cover is under the carpet in the booth,just dont remember it.
Because of the rust and hole in the pipe of the pump it takes in air and thats why you had to hit the gas.Dont think you needed to do it the second time you started it,right? I dont think your alternator is at fault but I could be wrong.Anyway you will realise it very soon after some driving around

Get some fuel cleaner, like Sea Foam or STP. There might be some built up stuff that can be cleaned out with that stuff. That stuff will clean up the gas tank (assuming that you have a full tank), clean the lines, clean the carburetor, and the fuel injectors.