New with a starting problem

Hi there folks. I recently picked up a 2004 1.8 Tino, all seemed fine however first start of the morning is a bit of a stuggle - It fires up fine then after about 2 seconds gets very lumpy for maybe 5 - 10 seconds and then evens out, the rest of the day the car drives and starts great. This morning (it was below 0) it did the same but it put up more of a fight and stalled several times before it got up and running, and again it was fine afterwards. The engine management light isnt on. I have a full service history with car but it is due another one soon. I have read a lot about cam chains, I cant hear any rattles etc but is this the most likely culprit? Thanks

I would start with your maf sensor first. I had similar symptoms on my primera, different engine but mine always used to stall,driving to a stop then be a right pain to restart.

Thanks Charley, Wish you were right. Had a look at the thensioner and it looks way past the maximum travel...

Before I reply to Benjie I would like to introduce myself .
My name is Eugen and I live in Bognor Regis . I have owned an 05 plate 1.8 Tino for 3 years and have been very happy with it . On the strength of this experience I decided to buy an 03 plate 1.8 Tine off ebay for my son . I have however encountered starting problems and it shows a P0340 OBD code .

Hi Benjie , I have very similar symtons with a 2003 1.8 Tino which I have just bought .
Every time I crank the engine it fires and dies immediately or sometimes has two or three surges and then dies .
On the rare occasion when it actually starts it is ok for the rest of the day .
The tensioner shows about 10mm of shiny metal though it's difficult to estimate the total travel . I can see 6 'V' groves on the shiny metal part of the tensioner ram .
Before throwing good money after bad it would be good to know if it is in fact a stretched chain problem .