Hi, I took my Disco to wash and they washed the engine. This is my late husband’s car and I wanted to have all cleaned up. No idea this was not good (lesson learned!). This morning the car wouldn’t start. My friend tightened the battery terminals cause they’re a bit lose & the lights came on. Then it turned on but only to stall. I was able to drive it around to try to burn off anything trapped but the idle is low and the car stalls. I read a thread saying to clean the coils, add WD40 to all electrical parts to dry them, but I honestly don’t know how to get to the coils to clean them…my husband used to do everything himself and now that he’s gone I’m at a loss 😞 He was always on these forums so maybe some of you knew him…Jim.
Is cleaning the coils, plugs and adding WB40 doable for someone new to DIY with a LR? If I try to drive it more will it eventually dry up and run smoothly? Should I take it to a mechanic?

Thanks for your help and guidance!

Rina (Jim Julien’s widow)

 

The Discovery is pretty resistant to water so hopefully it will dry up and be fine.

 

Is the SES light solid or flashing? The first step would be to have someone plug in to the On Board Diagnostic (OBD) port to see what the computer is reporting for trouble codes. Drying out is a possibility.

 

Sorry for you losing your husband. Glad to see you’re doing your best to keep the Disco running. I’ll defer to more experienced forum members but I’d also pull the air filter and dry it out or replace it if you haven’t already and let it dry like ahab said.

 

I'd check connectors like the Mass Air Flow Sensor, Idle Air Control Valve, and honestly let it sit a few days. They could have got water in the fuse box under the hood, but those usually can take a good deal of water spray without any issues. It's probably something like a coil pack harness connector to be honest, and you won't be able to easily reach those. I'd pop the hood and place it in the sun or leave it for a few days.

I once went to an Off Road event and my 02 Kalahari was just GROSS under the hood. I wanted to clean it up so I carefully rinsed it off, but I still ended up with a D2 that ran awful and was popping codes I'd never even seen before. It sat for around a week and when I went back out to check it she ran flawless. Whatever I'd got wet had obviously dried out.

 

The SES is always on bc I had my catalytic stolen and now only have a straight pipe. The mechanic told me the SES would always be on bc of that. In this case that won’t help, but I guess if I take it to the mechanic he’ll find out what else is triggering with the code reader

 

Just let it sit, if you can. My truck misfired a few years ago after I sprayed down the engine at a self-service car wash. That cleared up after everything under the bonnet had time to dry out fully.

 

Thank you! I love that car and it reminds me of all the amazing adventures we took off-roading, camping, etc in California and PNW. I moved to Miami with my family now, so no more mountains for it to climb. I’m hoping to keep it going for as long as posible. It’s a beautiful car with 155k miles of adventures & he took such good care of it! I am trying my best, but I know I’ll be relying on a mechanic to help me. These forums are very helpful & reading your posts at least let’s me understand a bit more of its complexities. Thank you!

 

As for the Service Engine Light, if it’s the lack of Cats that’s giving the code, a cheap OBD2 reader will clear it. If that’s the code and you clear it, your light will probably stay off for months.