We have a 97' Disco I, 229K miles, runs great, most of the time. However, when it is cold and particularly when it has rained or has been very humid upon startup it will chug and clug and ping and pop when you give it any gas and wont get over 1K RPM. If I let it sit for 15 min and it warms up, it smooths out and runs perfectly. Once I ran it though a Car wash and it did this after it was running smooth, but only for about 5 min then it went back to running perfect. so It's got to have something to do with water getting somewhere. No codes no lights NO CLUE. any ideas?

I also have ABS light on (ever since I bought it) and no Cruise control.
We love this vehicle and would love to figure this out. I think we can get at least another 70K out of this thing!

 

You can get as many miles as you want with enough maintenance. The ECU getting wet and causing strange behavior is a common occurrence. It's solved by opening it up, drying out, and sealing it shut with silicone. It could also be water getting in the ignition system. Check both ends of plug wires and coil pack connector. Dielectric grease can be used to waterproof any connectors.

 

What he said.
Passenger fender, infront of the washer bottle.
Unhook battery, remove ECU, open it, dry it, seal it with silicone.
Done.

As for the cruise, vacuum leak, start at the brake pedal and replace any cracked/broken line.

 

Yep, sounds like a wet computer problem to me, too.

 

This is so common on DI's that there are guys who waterproof these things for a living.
Send them your ECU, they waterproof it to MIL SPEC's and send it back to you.

 

There is a link to pics of the inside of my ecu for your viewing pleasure in my signature.

 

I don't remember there being any holes in the side of mine like there appears to be on yours Chris. Is yours unique?

 

Oh, I just noticed that mine is for a '96 and you guys have a '97. Well, at least it will be a loose example of what he can expect.