We fly behind an O-360 rebuilt by PE with 10:1 pistons and have not had any operational problems after >600hrs. on the clock. We do see some valve guide wear in one cylinder, which will have to be addressed soon as we get oil leakage into the cylinder on the ground. Oil usage is less than 1qt /10hrs.

 

Rick (RV N146RV)

 

 

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