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Hi Folks, The Continental TSIO-360-LB-1B engine in my Mooney M20K-231 was rebuilt 2 years ago. At my last (current) annual, the A&P found 3 broken cotter pins in the oil screen, and followed up with a Boroscope camera to identify that at least one of the pins did indeed come off of the castle nut that secures the connecting rod. The shop that performed the rebuild (Daytona Aircraft Services) has offered to make any repairs necessary at their cost, even though the warranty on the engine has expired, however I would have to cover all costs to remove, ship, and reinstall, including the labor billed by the current A&P. The shop manager (Jake Clemens) has told me that this is not uncommon, and the plane should be safe to fly. I am not comfortable flying this airplane. Continental has recommended that the engine not even be started. The shop manager said he could refer me to a ferry pilot. I contacted the ferry pilot, and explained to him the situation and Continental's recommendation. He discussed the situation, and determined that he would be willing to ferry the airplane the 2.5 hours to the shop. I told him I was not comfortable flying, and why, so I have been upfront about my concerns. My questions - just how common is this? I have not heard of this happening before, and it doesn't seem like something that should be common in an engine with less than 120 hours SMOH. Are my expectations unreasonable that the original engine shop should cover the costs to get this resolved? Is it acceptable that there are likely other airplanes flying around with the same issue, and is there really no danger here? And finally, IF I allow the ferry pilot to return the plane to the original shop, am I legally liable if something does happen because I allowed him to fly the plane, after full disclosure of the facts? My gut says don't let *anyone fly it, and don't start the engine, but I wanted to hear thoughts from this community. Attached are pictures of the pins and the boroscope photos. Thanks!

I'm starting a new thread to have a better subject and tags, but this is a continuation of this earlier Mooneyspace thread regarding lack of clearance between the over center link and the main landing gear trusses. First, a review of the problem. As shown in the attached photo, with wear over time, the castle nut for the main over-center link will begin to rub the landing gear truss: