QuestionDick, You are right the 1965 Impala has a timing chain, However, it has a 1985 distributor in the rear of the engine. It is not marked on the engine what size, but it appears to be either a 327 or 350. My son has had this car for only 2 weeks and we are unfamiliar with its history. Here are the things that we have done since the car stopped running.
1. changed the timing belt
2. put a new distributor cap on
3. replaced the carburator
4. replaced the pick up coil.
After replacing the pick up coil, the car did start. But, it idles rough. If you idle it high, the car will continue to run. When you lower the idle, it cuts off.
Prior to this work, we had a mechanic put a voltage regulator on the car. When we picked the car up, it ran fine, but cut off 10 minutes after leaving the shop.
The battery is putting out the correct voltage. As you can see, I'm not good at cars, just trying to help my 25 year old son who loves classic cars. Thanks in advance for your patience.
Linda
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The text above is a follow-up to ...
-----Question-----
My son's 1965 Impala lost power suddenly and will not start. Replaced the carburetor, did not start. Replaced the timing belt, started but backed fired for a short time. Should he now replace the ignition coil in the distributor. The distributor cap is new and just replaced. How do I remove and replace the ignition coil inside the distributor. Is it a good ideal to replace the module, also. If yes, please instruct me on how to.
Thanks in advance for your time.
Linda
-----Answer-----
We have a problem here: A 65 Impala does not have a timing belt or an ignition module, and the ignition coil is not in the distributor - so someone has done some modifications to the car if that is what it has (an HEI distributor). Those didn't come out until 20 years after this car was built.
There IS a timing chain (and gears) in the engine, but to change those requires a major disassembly of the front of the engine.
If that has been done, it is quite likely the distributor has been installed wrong, and that is all that is wrong - it is easy to fix but I need to know more about the engine to guide you.
I'm sorry you have spent so much money trying to fix it - stop spending money and help me by telling me more about what has been done to the car - maybe we can backtrack to a known point and troubleshoot it from there.
You didn't tell me what engine it has, so I need to know that before we go much further here. I also need to know exactly what has been done to the engine since it last ran properly. Can you write back with those answers and I'll try to lead you to a solution before you spend any more money.
I'm not trying to give you a hard time, I just need more info.
Dick
AnswerWell, you've sort of trapped me here! As I make very clear in my intro on this site, I don't want to get involved in any car that has been modified, because there is no way to tell what has been done to the poor thing, and putting in an engine from a 20 year newer car is a whopping modification! However, since I've gone this far, I'll try to give you some guidance.
I'll ignore everything from the history you gave me except one important statement: The car ran fine for a while AFTER the voltage regulator was replaced - right? It's too late now, but the thing to do, when it quit after that, was to troubleshoot the problem right then and there, without changing ANYTHING else. Now there has been so much fiddled with that it is going to take an experienced mechanic (on 1985 Chevies!) to straighten it out. I have no chance of guessing what the original failure was (the one that happened right after the voltage regulator was changed), but if I HAD to guess, I'd say that guy left something loose or disturbed something, and the car should have been taken right back to him to find out what caused it to quit so soon.
If it were possible to undo all the other things that have been done to it after that, I'd advise that, to get back to a known condition, but it appears that won't be practical. If it runs well enough to get it to a mechanic, do that and ask him to troubleshoot it.
By the way, the voltage regulator has nothing to do with the way the engine runs; it affects only the maintenance of the battery, and since the battery is able to crank the starter that isn't an issue here. The first guy must have left a wire loose or something laying in the wrong place, because the ignition seems to be screwed up. The 1985 engine has a modern electronically controlled distributor (called an HEI system)- that is way too new for me to know anything about. To you, I guess a 1985 is an old car, but to me, it is about 40 years too new.
Very likely, the subsequent work has some mistakes made also - I'd start with verifying that the distributor is installed correctly, and that the plug wires are in the right order and location. You mentioned timing "belt" again - I assume you mean timing chain and gears (they must be changed as a set) - it is quite possible this work wasn't done right also - that could make the car run about the way you describe. Even the carburetor could be incorrect or misadjusted. This car is going to have to go to an experienced tune-up mechanic for a complete review of everything that has been done to it.
If it runs so bad that it is not driveable, inspect all the wiring under the hood, especially in the area of the ignition system, looking for something that has come loose or a wire that is touching a metal part that it should not be touching. If you can't find anything visually, so you can get it to run well enough to drive it, you'll have to have it towed to a mechanic who is willing to troubleshoot it for you.
I'm sorry I can't be more help.
Dick
