I drove to the gas station this morning to get some gas, car was almost empty, and got some gas. After I got the gas, my car wont' start. It didn't seem to want to turn over. I didn't know what was going on, so I went and got some fuel injector cleaner, put it into the tank, and it started up. Well I went and worked for a few hours and decided to go home. Stopped to deposit a check and the car won't start again. it still doesn't want to turn over. So what I am wondering is... do you think it could be bad gas? I know very little about cars, I mean, I am working on learning, but I don't know what this is. Could anyone help me out?

im having my own problems but I still can give some general help, have you checked your spark plugs because they could be fouled.

http://www.centuryperformance.com/spark-plug-reading-spg-192.html

thanks man, I will drive on over to the bank... and check it out.

quick question, what would be some good spark plugs to purchase? Are there any specific ones that are great?

If the starter won't turn it over, that's not gas, or anything to do with fuel or spark. That sounds like a bad starter to me. They can sometimes work when they are cool, but bind up when they are warm or hot.

Could also be a weak battery due to not being fully charged. But your recommendation is probably more likely.

E

quick question, what would be some good spark plugs to purchase? Are there any specific ones that are great?

Go with NGK plugs.

By "won't turn over" do you mean that you turn the key and nothing happens, or at least not enough to start, maybe some grunts & clicks and that's the end of it.... and only after it's warmed up? That's what I'm assuming here.

I had that problem very much as you describe it. The solution for me was new battery cables - it got somewhat better after I cleaned the post connections with the old cables, but never completely went away. New cables resolved that completely (among several other annoying things). Now, I think yours is an '80, and mine is a '72, so there could be other issues at play that I would be ignorant of, so it's FWIW.

NAPA had some nice cables on the shelf for a reasonable price - they worked like a charm. Just take the measurements along with you.

For plugs... take the advice given and use NGK. Odd, but on some of these Z-cars NGK is the only thing that will work for an extended period of time.

Please let us know what resolves your problem.

If you can have someone turn the engine over while you check the plug wire for spark. that will tell you if it is ignition or not. If you received some dirty gas and plugged the filterers is a possibility but this is not likely. Being that this is a ZX you have a module on the side of the Dist. If this is beginning to fail it will act like this also. So check for spark at the plugs if no spark , look to the module. Gary

ok, well I decided to do both, bought new spark plugs and bought a new starter... still doesn't start. But its ok, because I needed new of both of those. But I took a video with my phone so you can hear what is wrong. If anyone can tell me that would be awesome because I have about 12 hours til I have to be at work.

If that's your car before installing the new starter, don't install it, take it back and get a refund because there's nothing wrong with your starter. Not saying I know why your car won't start but the starter is fine. Sounds just like mine.

After watching the video, I retract my suggestion in post #8 - the car is turning over well but not firing.... Take Stephen's advice on the starter, and Beandip's suggestion to see if you have spark. If you have spark, check to see if you have fuel flowing. Also, just for kicks, check to see if the distributor is tightly secured.