Uneven cranking, rough start, then ok.

I have a 1984 Nissan Maxima (L24E engine). Today, after the car had been sitting for three days, I started it and it labored cranking on one cylinder (don't know which one). When it started it ran very rough but smoothed-out in a few seconds. After that, no problem. Cranks normally now. I pulled the spark plugs and they had only light wear and light deposits, except one was noticeably dirtier than the others (but not fouled).

In answer to the following response: it is an injected engine, 192000 miles, I have owned it since 92000 miles. The cap, rotor and cables were replaced three years ago. The cables look good but the cap and rotor have some pitting, probably the cause of some missing at medium RPM while warming up. I have already ordered replacements (including cables). Replaced fuel filter one year ago. Spark plugs replaced one year ago (cleaned and regapped yesterday). Other than that, all ignition and fuel delivery parts are original (assuming they were original when I bought the car). Starter motor replaced five years ago (cranking is normal except for yesterday's incident). Battery is new, no apparent charging issues.

New information: I started the car this morning. It cranked normally until it started to catch then labored on one cylinder again until it fired up. Sounds like a spark issue. Replacing the cap, rotor and cables. Will report when finished.

More new information: replaced cap, rotor and cables. Car will not start. Still labors on one cylinder more than others. Now, tries to catch but the piston often seems to hit something hard--like very early spark. Would you believe, they gave me the wrong cap. The rotor was jammed inside the cap and the distributor shaft was rotating inside the rotor. Cleaned up the old cap and rotor (now has new cables and cleaned cap and rotor). Started right up. Runs normally under all conditions. Still labors on one cylinder a bit when cranking (I retract what I said about cranking normally before it starts to catch) and runs rough for half a minute or so after starting.

Final followup: with the uneven cranking and rough start I thought I had some liquid in a cylinder. Thought for sure it was a head gasket or leaking injector. However, with the new cap, rotor and cables, it now cranks normally and runs as good as ever. Hope this helps the next person with a similar problem.

I have a 1984 Nissan Maxima (L24E engine). Today, after the car had been sitting for three days, I started it and it labored cranking on one cylinder (don't know which one). When it started it ran very rough but smoothed-out in a few seconds. After that, no problem. Cranks normally now. I pulled the spark plugs and they had only light wear and light deposits, except one was noticeably dirtier than the others (but not fouled).

Is it a carburettor engine? Mileage. maintenace history if exists.

Plugs, wires, cap, rotor etc. service time. Check issues in the linky below...