Rough starting

[Forrest831]

Hey I just got an 88 pathfinder xe 4x4. I cold started it this morning and it idled super rough for about 5 seconds then died but on the second start it idled a little rough then went back to normal. Any ideas??

[Frenchy]

I would suspect a bad connection somewhere or something up with the Idle Air Control. If you don't have one already get a service manual first. After that go to the symptoms diagnosis for troubleshooting. You don't want to throw parts at this. That gets expensive quick.

[Slartibartfast]

I don't know the throttle body injection, but, yeah, could be a loose connection, a leaky injector, something along those lines. Best I can offer is the '89 service manual. Should be the same as '88 AFAIK. '87 has a different list of trouble codes, which is just different enough to trip you up, so if yours is an early '88, make sure you know which version you're working with. If it codes 44 for "no malfunction indicated," you need the '87 codes; if it codes 55, it's got the codes described in the manual linked above. I have a paper manual for '87 and can send you the earlier code list if you end up needing it.

 

If the manual doesn't get you anywhere, I would look for any obvious loose connections or damaged wiring, clean the throttle body if it's getting gross inside, clean the MAF (very carefully) if it needs it, and maybe throw a can of berryman's in the tank on the off chance it does something.