odd issue

[ccapehartusarmyINF.(ret)]

okay every once and awhile now whenever i shut off the car and go to start it back up
it starts up breifly then immediatly dies and the first time it happened i popped the hood and the negative cable was a likttle loose so i tightened it and it ran fine but it still does it once and awhile and all i have to do is twist the cable on the negative terminal a little wich take a bit of effort and it starts up and runs fine

 

[SLCHOE]

Sounds coincidental. HAving said that, it's never a bad idea and check those side post battery terminals for corrosion inside of the rubber around the terminal bolts. Clean them out with boiling hot water by pouring it on them.

I'd also pull the air cleaner/intake tube off and take a look at your throttle body plate. If it's black and gunky around the circumfrence, clean the plate (both sides) and throttle bore with a can of carb cleaner and a rag. Pull the negative battery terminal and wait 5 minutes and then reconnect it (this forces it to relearn idle throttle plate position along with other adaptive strategies). A closed throttle plate still lets some air by the plate but one that is gummed up and filthy will actually seal shut. IAC should compensate for that but sometimes the logic in the PCM is not quick enough to adjust the IAC before the engine dies.