4.0 V8 Petrol starting problems

I've bought myself a really nice 71k mile 1998 P38 4.0SE. Very tidy and pretty original which I'm really pleased with. I've been starting to do a few little jobs on the car and today I changed the pollen filters which were horrible! I also tried to change the air filter but the replacement I was sold is too large so I need to send that back and get the proper one.

Anyway, I opened up the airbox to try and change the filter and then sealed it all back up again - that was literally the only change. Before, the car started really easily every time and reved very cleanly (oh and sounds gorgeous too!). However now the car only starts cleanly sometimes.

I popped to the local filling station to put a bit of fuel in (something I suspect I will be very versed in very soon) and the car wouldn't restart. It started then died almost immediately. I eventually got it started by stomping on the accelerator while turning it over and it had a very lumpy tickover but kept going - the engine was warm at this point and had been idling happily for 15+ minutes at home before I drove to the garage.

I got home and stopped the engine and then started it 10+ times again. Sometimes it would start perfectly, rev to 1,500 and then settle down to 800 revs as I've experienced every other time I've started it. Other times it would start and then die almost immediately. Once it was started it would work perfectly and rev really nicely.

I opened the bonnet and wiggled the wires going to the air-flow meter (I presume - on the pipe from the airbox) and I also wiggled the wires on the airbox and I had mixed results as to whether that made a difference or not.

So, my question (eventually) is - is it possible/likely that I disturbed some wires that are having an effect on starting or is there something else I need to check?

Thanks in advance for any advice

take the plug of the air flow and check its got good contact

:welcome2:

My money is on a dodgy MAF and/or wiring thereto....

Did you put it all back correctly and not crack or rip any of the tubing, a vaccum leak could cause it do that.

I believe I put it all back correctly and carefully. I went out to the car tonight and it started perfectly twice. The engine was warm when it was failing to start yesterday but it's never failed to start perfectly before whether warm or cold.

One other thing that I've just remembered was that I tested the cruise control yesterday too - it worked perfectly once I knew about the button on the dash that turns it on! No idea if that could be related.

The outer sheath on cable to the MAF sensor is short meaning that the individual cables are visible although the insulation on those looks intact. How easy is it to replace the cable and remake the connections?

Check your plugs/leads/coil.