95' vette has been sitting in my carport and gets started every two or three months when I get a chance. I always have to charge the battery and then I usually can get it to start. Bought a new battery and it turns and occasionally almost fires up but I can't get it to start now. Where should I look?

 

Check for spark and check for proper fuel pressure. I'd start there.

 

How can I tell if the fuel pump is running? I hear a click inside the car toward the back when I turn the key but nothing else afterwards.

 

You need to put a gauge on the shrader valve on the fuel rail. That will tell you the pressure going to the injector. It is a start to "hear" the fuel pump whirring, but if your filter is clogged, you wont get fuel to the injectors.

 

On a 95 you should definitely be able to hear the fuel pump run for a second or two when the key is turned to the on position. Hook up a pressure gauge and watch it while someone cranks the engine. If no FP you have the pump and (I believe) two different relays that control the fuel pump.

 

Go to Auto Zone and they will let you borrow a gauge for free.

 

I realized the 3/4 tank of gas that's in there has been in there for quite some time, possibly a couple of years. I'm going to check on that first. Thanks for the help guys, I'll look into the other stuff after that.

 

Be sure to double check your "New" battery while you are at it. Your battery or starter may have a dirty connection which could easily cause slower starting speeds. If you don't find anything at the battery terminals be sure to check your starter where the battery connects as that is another common corrosion location. If a battery has been kept for a while using a small battery tender type device you can have stratification of the electrolyte and a loss of capacity as a result. Some of the smaller chargers don't regulate, they simply supply 1 amp 24/7 and that will kill a battery dead fast by drying it out. It can eventually boil away all the electrolyte and that ruins the battery. I do the following list to all my batteries once a year.

Battery Maintenance:
Remove battery from car. avoid spilling liquid electrolyte by keeping battery level.
Measure the open circuit voltage and record.
Clean the battery case and wipe it free of dust and dirt. Dirt on the top of batteries can actually short power if conductive. A Clean battery will last longer.
Assuming it is a typical Flooded Lead Acid battery you then find access to the electrolyte level and top it off with Distilled water
Connect the battery to a charger that is able to produce at least 10 amps to completely charge the battery. It has to be able to make the battery gas (bubble) to de-stratify the electrolyte.
Measure the battery when I get it so I can be sure that the battery doesn't develop Plate Growth and expand the case in the process. I have had to replace RV FLA batteries for this. Unchecked they will break their case and leak out the electrolyte and have the potential to explode if the plates short out inside the case. A battery should come out after the use the same size or smaller, some be careful handling any battery that has grown or changed in size.
I use a 4 step charger that uses a combination of Constant Voltage and Constant Current to get an automotive FLA battery completely charged.
Record the fully charged open circuit voltage and clean the posts and apply a covering coat of grease
At this time the battery could go back in the car like Springtime or be put on a charging stand where batteries are charged periodically throughout the winter.

The gasoline in the car can be removed by taking off the fuel filter and getting a suction going the tank should drain out most of the way. Flush your lines with fresh fuel to clean the junk and old gas out. Don't forget to replace the fuel filter anyway. At this point I opened the top of the tank and cleaned it out the rest of the way from up top. There was a lot of debris in the tank so I added water after the gas was removed and flushed it around with a small aquarium pump and vacuumed it out with a shop vac. DO NOT try this if there is even a scent of gasoline in your tank. In the end the tank came out nice and clean. Today's fuel they call Gasoline has very short live span, you must use it within 30 days is what they tell you now, unless you put an additive in it to make it stay fresh longer. The newer fuel has ethanol in it and that absorbs moisture so now fuel lines rust out from the inside with little warning. Don't let it set in the lines or you will replace the lower sections like I did to make my C4 run again. The "supply" line was virtually blocked and the "return" was wide open. New line, no more trouble.

The one place I would check right away is do you have a spark? At all eight cylinders?

Best regards,
Chris "The Battery Guy"

Before any kind of serious testing of a car can be done you must start with a fully charged battery. When doing compression tests I leave the charger on the battery to keep things as equal as possible.