I'm going to look at an '88 tomorrow. 115K on the car but only 10K on a Jasper 2.8 engine.

What's the opinion on these engines?

Jasper has been around for a long time so the majority of their engines must be good. I remember my Dad getting one back in the 50's. If it's a 3.4 installed in a Fiero, my experience is that they won't warrant it because of the starter relocation. What you want to be sure of is that being an 88 (V6?) is that the installer put the correct flywheel or flex plate on it and to be sure that Jasper provided an 88 engine and not an earlier externally balanced engine.

If you can get the inspection plate off, the flywheel shouldn't have weights for an 88 engine application. Maybe someone else can give a block casting number.

From what I understand Jasper has the same rebuild pt # for the Fiero 2.8L for all V6 year Fieros.

If that is the case then for sure I would take the advice above and see if it is possible for you to find out for sure that it is indeed a later block. I know a good way you can tell is by looking at the oil pan towards where it meets the harmonic balancer. '85-'86 blocks have a near 45 degree angled flange at this point. '87-'88 blocks have a L shaped flange.

If it has 10K on it then it sounds like for the most part the issues have been sorted out, but I believe that the Jasper warranty does have a time limit on it that if you go over that time the warranty is voided regardless of mileage.

Ok, thanks,

What would be the problem if it were the wrong flywheel?

The oil pans and timing covers are interchangeable on all Fiero V6 engines, so that's not always an indicator of what engine you have.

The 88 engine was internally balanced. With the oil pan off, you can see that the crank has a large wheel, which would have been the reluctor for a crankshaft sensor, but the notches aren't cut into it. All previous engines were externally balanced with weights on the flywheel. Using the wrong flywheel causes the crank assembly to be out of balance. At a minimum, it will cause bearing and seal failure.

Let me check the P22 parts book and if I find an identifier for the 88, I'll post back.

Thank you FieroFool. Three more questions.

The engine has 10K on it. Would a mechanical problem due to the wrong flywheel have manifest itself by now?

Would the imbalance be noticeable in a test drive?

If so, what should I look for?

The car would have some vibration if it was wrong. Maybe not at all speeds, but somewhere between 1 and 70 you would feel it.

What Gall757 said. I don't know how severe the vibration would be or how long it would take to do damage but first visible signs might be oil leaking at either end of the crankshaft.

The problem with engine rebuilders is that they don't always match blocks to cranks and vice versa. It is possible that you can have an 88 block and an 87 crank. The flywheel doesn't come with the long block so that is left to the discreation of the installer. Inspecting the crank and the flywheel is the only way to tell. Most engine rebuilders use cheap and sometimes ignorant labor. The only way to tell what is going on at this point is to drive the car take it through the RPM band and feel for any vibrations.

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[This message has been edited by infinitewill (edited 01-05-2016).]

Ive bought quite a few Jasper engines and they were all great. Never had a problem. They even partnered with me and my race boat and supplied me complete 454 GM engines for it. One of the things from years ago is their warranty was 2-3 years when most others with 90 days- 1 year, and theirs was unlimited miles.

I had worked for a shop that sold Jasper engines. Jasper even paid for us to fly out and tour their facility. Even with all of their "quality control" we still received and installed many engines that had problems...Low oil pressure due to a defective oil pump, low oil pressure due to an incorreect head gasket, oil leak due to a cracked block (thankfully caught this before the truck left the shop)! Several engines with noisy lifters. The one good thing is....Jasper covered parts and labor under their warranty (not sure how they afford to be in business). We used to sell ATK engines, not sure why we stopped. Bottom line is, regardless of what company builds the engine, the quality depends on the experience and dedication of the person actually doing the rebuilding. Jasper seems to have a good facility but it's close to a sweatshop.

If the engine has made it 10k miles already and is running well, you're probably in good shape. Make sure that the warranty is transferrable.

Jasper makes great rebuilds! They are a little more money than others, but well worth it in my opinion. I've installed a few of their engines and never had any problems with any of them. I've also installed other brands of remanufactured engines and had problems with them.