2001 Saturn LW200, 4 cyl, auto, 65K miles. The car broke a rod and we replaced the engine the reman Jasper. took the car down the road 5 miles and the rear main seal went out. Pulled the engine again replaced the seal. Just put it back in again today ran it in the garage for 45 minutes at idle, reved the engine a little and a big puff of smoke oil dumps out of the rear main seal again. Also we noticed that the new belt is getting chewed up on the edges. I a guessing thrust bearings bad? the car is an automatic but I don’t know what the engine was originally paired with. Any ideas anyone?
A puff of “smoke oil” came from the rear main seal? That doesn’t make any sense. The serpentine belt is getting chewed up? I would guess that one of your accessories not being installed correctly is the culprit. Sounds like you got a bad reman engine and I’d return it for a refund or replacement.
Puff of smoke is oil, without a doubt. Yes, the belt is getting chewed up on the edges. It is on properly I checked it 3 times as well as my friend, it is on all the pulleys as it should be. The alternator, tensioner, and AC compressor are the only accessories. I am thinking the crank is walking in and out. I’ve never seen it before but it would be the only thing that makes sense to me. I wathed the crank pully and it seems to wiggle a little bit but not too much. I don’t think it was enough to cause issues.
Ok so take the engine back because it is obviously a piece of crap.
I don’t know what is going on at Jasper. They used to have a great reputation. But, I’ve also heard of another engine, a Dodge 318, that this was happening to, as well. Turns out, the block was line-bored incorrectly, and the rear seal surface was no longer concentric with the driveshaft. This was eating rear seals like crazy. Had to return the engine.