This morning my 95 Disco did not want to fire. It would turn over but didn't seem to be catching any fuel and wouldn't start. This continued for 3-5 minutes before it finally started, at which time it was very sluggish and wouldn't rise much above 1000 rpm even when floored. After about 10 seconds it "cleared" itself and ran normally. I drove it for about 75 miles today after the start and no problems, it is starting and running fine. This has happened before and typically comes after a long prolonged rain. Any ideas?

 

Dielectric grease your coil wires and all electrical plugs that you can get to.
This stops 75% of problems that are electric with Lucas systems.

 

It is moisture related, you dont live in Seattle do you?
Something is getting wet when it rains, you can duplicate this, with the engine cold, like after sitting all day on a Sat or Sun, when it is dark out spray the engine with the garden hose, soak it good. Have a friend try and start it while you, in the dark, look around the engine for arcing.

 

When did you last change your fuel filter?
Sounds like your fuel pump is bleeding down, leaving no fuel in the rails.

 

No I don't live in Seattle, I'm an Iowegian; and I haven't replaced the fuel filter in the 30k plus miles I have owned the beast. Is a fuel filter change difficult? Thanks for the help.

 

The fuel filter on a DI can be hard to replace if the fittings are alll rusted up.
It is behind the rear passenger wheel bolted to the frame.
It took me 3 hours to replace mine the first time, now it only take 15 minutes.
I replace it once a year and put anti-seize on the threads to make it easier to remove for next time.

 

I have a 2002 Discovery II SD. Similar to the above post, I am having a difficult time starting it after a very long rainfall. It takes several attempts to get it to turn over and after it starts, the idol is a very rough. After starting, the service engine light will blink and after a few seconds stay on. If I attempt to drive, it has very little acceleration and sputters when I attempt to accelerate. If I let it idle for approximately 15 minutes, the rough idling smooths out and it runs well. The service engine light will stay on for approximately 1 to 2 days and eventually turn off. Once again, this happens only if I leave it out of the garage, parked outdoors after and extremely heavy rainfall.

P. Phillips