May I add to the bad news. I recently had a gear up incident due to a failure of the hydraulic system and a failure of me to catch it.

I sent the engine, which only had 80 hours on it, to Barrett Engines and here is what they had to say:

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“Ok.  You had several cylinders with low differential compressions.  #2 – 50/80 #3 – 62/80 #5 65/80 & #4 54/80.  The oil pump housing is pitted and has several grooves along with pitting on the oil pump gear.  The transfer collar was really beaten up and revealed severe scratching on the crankshaft.  The prop governor shaft exhibits signs of excessive wear with the amount of time you have on the engine and the crankcases are also beaten up pretty badly at the prop gov. shaft location.  The camshaft shows some scratching, which is abnormal for an engine with this many hours in such a short period of time.

 

Most concerning to us was that the #5 main bearing was out of the saddle in the cases.  We showed them to Monty, and he feels that you were very close to spinning that bearing, which could have been catastrophic. I am sending you photos of the crankshaft, bearings, oil pump housing and transfer collar that I took yesterday; three in this email, and three in the next.

 

 

According to Barrett most of these problems were due to poor workmanship or parts.  Incidentally Barrett said I was not alone regarding having a problem with Performance engines. She had 5 other Performance Engines in their shop for repair.

 

In a sense I was lucky to have the accident.  Things could have been much worse for me in the future!!!

 

Ralph Love

N122PT

Legacy

 

 

As many may know, I had a prop strike requiring an engine teardown and inspection.  The engine was constructed by Performance  Engines of La Verne (Los Angeles) which maintains a web site but does not answer the phone nor return emails.  Recall I earlier had forged high compression pistons that were installed with stock clearances rather than the larger clearances required to accommodate the forging alloy.  They rubbed and had to be replaced and the cylinders replated. 

 

Now I find that the engine was assembled with a lot of barely serviceable parts probably dredged from the old parts bin. 

 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you other Performance Engines customers need to watch your machine carefully, and be prepared for some possible surprises when overhaul time comes around.

 

Stock Continental engines have MUCH to recommend them.

 

Fred Moreno

 

Defects Requiring Rectification

 

• The right hand crankcase is cracked between the alternator attachment pad and No# 5 cylinder base. This maybe weld repairable or a new / another crankcase may need to be sourced.

 

• The oil sump requires weld repair, various dents, one significant chaff, and the thickness of the metal where it has been modified around the drain hole is extremely thin.

 

• Oil filter stud is the old style and needs to be replaced to incorporate the new style
• The starter shaft is worn beyond manufactures limits, requires new shaft as it is already at the last regrindable limit.
• The starter worm gear is worn beyond manufactures limits, requires new gear as it is already at the last regrindable limit.
• The starter worm shaft is excessively worn / splayed at the starter motor engagement end requires a new or serviceable shaft.
• The alternator face gear has wear / pitting on the teeth, requires new or serviceable gear.
• The connecting rods require overhaul, as the big end tunnel bore is oval and stretched.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Ben