ClearWater Cylinder Heads

[chevyCowboy]

I am in need of a new set of heads i have been looking around and it seems to me that there are mixed fellings about the heads from CCH.

So has any one had any experince with these heads after they have been on the motor for a while?

How are they holding up?

 

[bison]

I got a couple new chinese heads on my 98,no issues with 17 k on the engine.I bought bare heads and used my old valves.
I believe Clearwater uses "made in china" too

 

[bk95td]

Iamdave had a nightmare set of heads from them.It was on a customer's truck. I don't know if he ever got the too high valve height straightened out. He was having trouble getting them to warrenty them after he paid to ship them back. In other words, they need to be checked out before installing.Never trust anyone 100%.

 

[JiFaire]

Missy swears by them, and has never had any problems.

 

[iamdave0887]

Iamdave had a nightmare set of heads from them.It was on a customer's truck. I don't know if he ever got the too high valve height straightened out. He was having trouble getting them to warrenty them after he paid to ship them back. In other words, they need to be checked out before installing.Never trust anyone 100%.

Just want to clear the air here. My issue turned out to be an engine issue that neither of us(myself or my buddy helping me build the engine) have ever seen before. If anything Clearwater did a damn good job dealing with me while i was trying to figure out what in the hell was wrong with that engine.

I figured it was the new heads since two cylinders didn't have compression until the rocker gear was loosened, but that wasn't the issue when the truck came in as it was hitting on all 8 perfectly fine. Sent the passenger head back after talking with clearwater(on clearwater's dime) and when that same head came back after checking out fine, i installed it, and had the same issue of having to loosen the rocker gear to have compression, but it was on two totally different cylinders than last time. I was baffled and pissed, and continued to think it was a head issue since the issue was moving on me. It was cyl 6 that was the worst(0 psi with rocker gear even semi-tight). At this point the top end of the engine came back apart on that side for another go over. Called clearwater back and sent that head back out again and recieved a totally different cylinder head this time, however before even taking the new head from the box i wanted to try something. For the hell of it i put the original cylinder head back on, and had the same issue with #6, yet everything looked kosher inside.

Ended up that the lifters were seized "upwards" causing the valves to open just enough when the rocker gear was tightened down. NO amount of force was freeing up those lifters, yet they looked perfectly fine. I even pulled every lifter on that side while waiting for the head to show up and cleaned them out, and still got no where. Never did figure out how those lifter's got stuck upwards.:???:

all in all the CCH heads seems to be kosher. injectors and glows were a little tight on a few cylinders, but not overly tight and the truck is out there now running like a champ. Ended up replacing every lifter with brand new Melling's, and the engine ran great once back together.

If Clearwater sees this i want to thank them for putting up with my issues i had with that truck. They went the extra mile(and then some) with shipping me a replacement head for the passenger side after the first one was shipped back not once but twice during this fiasco.

I'm just amazed at what the cause was. Never seen it before, but i'm good at getting issues like that it seems.

 

[buddy]

Well, you run the risk when reusing lifters Even though the hydraulic rollers are supposed to be OK for that as long as you are using the same camshaft in the same positions.

 

[iamdave0887]

Well, you run the risk when reusing lifters Even though the hydraulic rollers are supposed to be OK for that as long as you are using the same camshaft in the same positions.

Uh huh, here's the thing, the lifters never came out(until i tried to free them up once the issue was discovered). Cam didn't come out either. Never even opened up the timing cover It stayed sealed right down to the oil fill pipe and oil cap the whole time. Engine was covered and the hood was closed so it wasn't a water issue either as there was no rust on the bores or on the old lifters when they came out. All this thing was in for was a top end rebuild. I've done plenty of top end rebuilds on all different engines from all walks of life with different driving habits and abuse, and never had this issue before, ever.

This was a freak issue, that even my buddy(whos been building engine's for close to 20 years) hasn't seen until this truck.

I'm well aware of the risks when re-using lifters. Flat tappet lifters cannot be re-used as they are mated to the specific cam lobe(not just the cam itself) that they started life with. I would think if someone were to make sure that every flat tappet lifter went back into the same hole in the same direction it came out with the same cam you'd be ok too. Do i recommend it? No, but that doesn't mean someone didn't do it and have no issues.

Roller lifters(hydraulic lash adjust or not) can be re-used if they are in good condition. If they aren't in good condition, then it's obvious that they shouldn't be re-used.

Anyways, back to the original question about CCH heads. I'm not sure how many miles he's put on the truck with the CCH heads on it, but he says it's running great. Time will tell in the long run so the jury is still out for me until he gets some miles on the rig.

 

[JiFaire]

Thanks, Dave... good explanation!

To the OP - looking like ClearWater Heads are OK ...

I put a head from Ideal Cylinder Head in CA on my kids' car and it's been fine, too. Definitely a Chinese one, though... brand-new head/valve assy for less than a rebuilt head w/o valve train from the wreckers?

At the time, Ideal had heads cheap for the 6.5 too, but I can't find a website for them anymore. Maybe they went out of business, or at least out of the online business.

 

[chevyCowboy]

ok i think i will go ahead and order a set tomorow hopefully they work out for the best

 

[chessie 6.5]

Put flat tappet lifters back in same bores in the same direction? You do realize that flat tappet lifters rotate on the camshaft lobes. The lobe has a very slight taper and lifter has a very slight dome to cause it to rotate. Pushrods will also rotate. The speed of rotation at idle will indicate the condition of the lobes. You can compare the speed to all the other ones in the engine to check cam condition. Did you attempt to disassemble the lifters and drain oil, clean, lightly lube with motor oil and reassemble? I believe GM recommends this when taking valve train apart; at least they used to. Sometimes a full lifter will hold a valve or two open till the oil slowly bleeds past the tight clearances. Oh, btw, never mix the lifter and internal body as they are select fit. The other components in the lifter can be swapped if needed.

 

[iamdave0887]

Put flat tappet lifters back in same bores in the same direction? You do realize that flat tappet lifters rotate on the camshaft lobes. The lobe has a very slight taper and lifter has a very slight dome to cause it to rotate. Pushrods will also rotate. The speed of rotation at idle will indicate the condition of the lobes. You can compare the speed to all the other ones in the engine to check cam condition. Did you attempt to disassemble the lifters and drain oil, clean, lightly lube with motor oil and reassemble? I believe GM recommends this when taking valve train apart; at least they used to. Sometimes a full lifter will hold a valve or two open till the oil slowly bleeds past the tight clearances. Oh, btw, never mix the lifter and internal body as they are select fit. The other components in the lifter can be swapped if needed.

never messed with a flat tappet lifter engine, so no i know very little about them. I wasn't around when flat tappet lifter engines were common. I'm young so overhead cam engines were everywhere sadly, instead of good old OHV engines. The only one i've ever touched is my father's 71 camaro, and the lifters have never been out as long as i've been alive. Couldn't tell you before that point though.

The lifters in that truck were stuck for weeks with pressure from the valve springs on them, and nothing changed. Didn't want to replace them, but the owner needed his truck back, and after it sitting in my yard for close to a year i wanted to finish it. Replaced the lifters, problem solved.