John,

 

I am one of the first people to get a TSIO-550 engine from Ron. The engine was well built. I did have a few items that Ron fixed ; an oil leak from the accessory pad on the right front of the engine, a cracked exhaust pipe and a crack around the oil drain in the oil pan.

 

Ron provided race support at Reno for about four years. I had heard several complaints about Ron and his engines during this time frame. However, my engine was doing fine and he was supporting me at Reno. I knew some people were unhappy with Ron. Since my experience had been good, the benefit of the doubt went to Ron.

 

In 2008, at Reno, I replaced all 6 cylinders (4 had low compression). Ron did not have 6 cylinders so I got them from Pacific Continental. Ron offered to overhaul the 6 cylinders I had removed. He said he would provide the overhaul under race support. It was about 6 months before I delivered them to him (March of 2009).

 

I have not seen the cylinders since. My telephone calls and emails go unanswered. I did note a discussion on the LML, about June of 2009, that Ron had delivered a set of cylinders to a customer who was threatening legal action.

 

I no longer would recommend Ron to anyone. My engine was well built, but, for what ever reason, Ron seems to have lost his way.

 

Lynn Farnsworth

Super Legacy

TSIO-550 Powered

Race #44

Mm0 .6

 

 

John Barrett is out of country and asked me to forward his post below.   Fred

 

As owner of a TSIO 550 engine sold as new/experimental, I have been following this discussion with growing concern.  I was involved with a group of three customers including Fred M. who negotiated with Monson and ordered engines simultaneously. I have not had first flight yet although I have run the engine on the aircraft enough to dial it in for first flight.

 

 Some questions and thoughts come to mind:

1. Since the rush to purchase Performance Engines products was fueled by testimonials on the LML from one or more participants in the races at Reno, what can these owners tell us about their experiences with PE products in the intervening time since those testimonials?

 

2. Are there PE customers out there who are satisfied with their engines?  What maintenance issues have surfaced for them and how many hours have they got on theirs?

 

3. As owners of PE engines that have not (yet?) had problems, what should we do to minimize risk to life and limb?  Should we treat this as if it were an AD note for complete tear down, or is there some less painful alternative at this point? 

 

John Barrett