Hi bperu,
I understand you have a Photosmart C309a that is not printing properly. I'm sorry to hear this, but will definitely do my best to help you in resolving this issue.
It sounds to me, like perhaps the black ink is not printing. I'd like you to follow this Printer Does Not Print Black Ink or Color Ink, or Prints Blank Pages document and see if my suspicions are correct. If I am correct that document should be able to assist you in getting the black ink printing again.
If not, you can also manually clean the printhead (just follow the instructions using a lint free cloth and water - and also clean the part on the printhead in Figure 8 that it says not to touch with your hand) and see if that helps.
Hope this helps, have a great day!!