300zx shutting off and running poorly

[SeanP_17]

Hey whats up guys so the other day i was low on gas on my way to the gas station and my 90' 300zx shut off on me and wouldnt start back up then when i put gas in it still to no help and after having the car towed home it started back up and i figured i just clogged an injector or something and then replaced the fuel filter. The next day i took it out and the car shut off again after running fine and wouldnt start for about a half hour and after it started back up it was hesitating and running poorly. I eventually got the car home after 3 times of it shutting off and leaving it for a while. i checked the spark plugs and they all seem fine, What do you guys think the issue might be? Any suggestions?

[RubyRed300ZX]

Well let's see. Your car is 23 years old. Any rust from old buried fuel storage tanks at your local station, before they were updated to new plastic tanks, would have settled at the bottom of your gas tank, as well as any dirt and water from condensation. You ran the tank dry; thus, you sucked all 23 years of that up into the fuel lines leading up to the fuel filter.If it were me, I would disconnect the fuel line feeding the fuel filter, turn the key to on and fill a gallon can from the line, to purge any remaining "dirty" fuel. Then change out the fuel filter again to a new one.

I would then never ever run it below a quarter or eighth of a tank.

As a side note: Never fill up at a station when the tanker truck is there delivering fuel to the station. That tends to mix up all the condensation and sediment that has accumulated in their storage tanks. You also didn't mention where you live. But if you live in one of the states recently hit by heavy rains and flooding, and the station where you did fill up is in a low lying area, I'm not sure how they ventilate the underground tanks (as in to prevent water seepage into the tanks).

[DCaff300ZX]

+1 to all of the above, this is most likely the cause of your issue as you described it and the best way to deal with it.

[KillaZNA]

I had a similar issue with my 1990 na. It was my fault though. Stupidity gets the best of us. I was cleaning my connectors I went to clean the coolant temp sensor connector and instead of grabbing contact cleaner I grabbed brake clean..... Needless to say I melted my connector and the car died shortly after driving less than a quarter mile. The sensor was sending wrong information to the ecu telling it that it was overheating and the ecu was shutting the engine off to prevent further damage because it thought that it was hot. I am not saying this is the case with yours. All I am saying is that this is a possibility. Check the coolant temp sensor and make sure that it is clean and working properly. 2cent.

[SeanP_17]

Turns out i never had the PTU recall done causing my car to shut off and it was running rough because of my own stupidity i never marked the CAS when doing the timing belt and ended up having the ignition timing off. All is corrected now and shes running great!