Jsdirt

Why were those components replaced to begin with? Was there an issue prior to the replacement? From where I'm sitting, it sounds like a loose battery cable connection at the battery ... but if the issue started before the parts were replaced, that changes things. I would still start there, however, and check all grounds for corrosion, especially if you're near the coast, or travel north in winter often.

Runs great, and no noise = leave it be, and run it until it breaks.

Just my opinion, but I wouldn't "bearing-slap", or do any sort of fix like that on any LS engine. When they get up there in miles and start having problems (or start having problems at 50k miles like my '07 ...), I'd either sell it for parts, or scrap it, and buy a crate engine from a reputable engine builder. These are great engines - they make alot of power for their size, and are much more efficient than the old 350's. That said, the 350 was SIMPLE, CHEAP, and as reliable as a stone ax - none of which can be said of any LS. They are complex (there are TOO MANY little parts inside that can turn $6,000 into scrap in just a few miles), they are labor intensive (20+ hours just to remove heads), and they're expensive. For all those reasons, I'd go crate. If a customer asked me to do that, I'd pass on the job ... because it will be back with problems far too soon. Just my .02..

Yeah, this is screaming a ground issue to me as well.

You have a massive fuel leak somewhere, plus a leaking fuel pump, and stuck float in the carburetor, possibly. That should be easy to find. Doubt all of that is going into the engine, or it wouldn't run at all. Make sure your brakes aren't locked up as well.

You're welcome. Glad to help. I would definitely get a second opinion on that distributor, though. Just to be sure.

I can't seem to find the seller anymore, but this place looks exactly the same: https://www.ebay.com/usr/spareecm?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

I had the exact same problem with a buddy's '96 Tahoe, 5.7. I never had a vehicle mop the floor with me as badly as this one did. Long story short, it was a bad engine computer. That turned into another nightmare that cost my buddy thousands of dollars. After replacing every single sensor on the vehicle, the only part left to throw at it was the computer. Junkyard sold me a computer, looked me in the eye and told me it was off the exact same vehicle. I installed it and the vehicle ran (the symptoms started out like yours, but it eventually became a no-start), so I knew we made the right call on the ECU, but, it would only run on 6 cylinders. My buddy brought me a PILE of parts and had me install them all over again - crank sensor, o2 sensors, cam sensors, cap, rotor, wires, plugs, temp sensor, MAF, new injection spider, etc.. (he had already thrown a fuel pump at it on his own). Another long, painful story short, the engine computer was out of a 4.3 V6 s10 Blazer! That junkyard has since gone out of business. Scumbags!! We ended up going on eBay, and found someone in the midwest selling these computers, and he'd program your VIN number into them upon purchase, and ship it out for less than $100. I told my buddy about it, and he gave me the go-ahead to order it. When it came in, I drove an hour to his house, plugged it in, and after 5 PAINFUL years of troubleshooting hell, the truck is running and driving better than ever. He's put about 35k miles on it since. That truck is the reason I started learning everything I could about OBD-II systems. What a ball buster! But before you run out and buy a computer, make sure all the components inside the distributor are good. Also make sure the distributor isn't worn out. The shaft can wobble and throw the timing way out of whack when running, even if it's set perfectly.

Ahh, NICE! The headlight area looks like a '65. The '66 is swept backward at the edges. It looks totally different for some reason. I would've never though it was a Chevelle. SWEET car either way!

I have to tell everyone this 1,000 times ... but, YOU DO NOT NEED A DEALER to reprogram ANYTHING!!! Any competent shop with a good scan tool and/or a J-box can do this for you. Key fobs are all over the internet. Don't need a dealer for those either!

A salvage yard would be better equipped to answer that question. They will all bolt up, going back to the 700-R4 - it's the electronics that is the PITA to sort out.

This is the main reason why I tell people NEVER go to a dealer, unless you're still under the bumper-to-bumper warranty. They throw parts, rarely diagnose, and bill HIGH, as you've found out. If you can't change them yourself, use a private garage - NOT any dealer. Usually the #1 killer of coils is a bad, or worn spark plug (or an open secondary). Also, they could be gapped improperly, or, could be a bad run of parts. Increasing the gap too far is the same as running a severely worn plug. The energy required to jump a wider gap increases exponentially. Back in the day, coils were built to handle this pretty well. These days, everything is made by the lowest bidder - in other words, they have zero tolerance for wide gaps or opens on the spark side of things (secondary side).

Is that a Chevelle behind it? The body looks more like an Impala if it's a GM product. Guess it's the lack of chrome and the big rears that are throwing me off. That Nova is friggin MINT, too! My favorite color combo, and tastefully done, too.

I could list 1,000 reasons why it won't start. You could pick one. In other words, we need ALOT more information ...

When a vehicle is built before the1988 model year, I don't much care what brand it is, because they were all good back then! SWEET Cougar! She's a beauty! I can't tell what's parked behind her - looks like a MOPAR product with my eyesight. I own a little of everything. The '07 Silverado, of course, then a '86 Grand Marquis with 267k miles (and the original driveline and in-tank fuel pump in it), a '93 Volvo 940 with 195k on it, and a '84 Honda XL350R and a '74 Yamaha RD350 2-stroke for bikes. Brand don't mean s#@% to me - reliability DOES, however.