98 V70 GLT Opinions on Clearwater Cylinder Heads

[stephansvolvo]

Big red
Thanks for that feedback. I just received my newish head today. I'll be checking it closely.

[stephansvolvo]

I received the replacement head. Pulled it out o the box and just installed it tonight. Fit perfect. Put mine in the box it come in and shipped it back. Perfect. I've got a few more days before connecting power and cranking it up so we will see what happens then.

[sonoma850]

I received the replacement head. Pulled it out o the box and just installed it tonight. Fit perfect. Put mine in the box it come in and shipped it back. Perfect. I've got a few more days before connecting power and cranking it up so we will see what happens then.

How did it go Stephan?

I am about to pull the trigger on a head from them. Heard about them through this forum, but read some negative reviews online (incorrect valve install, loose guide, etc). I am thinking it is one of those things where people only write reviews when things go horribly wrong.

Also, I cracked the exhaust cam lip exactly like the user in a separate post, can anyone confirm whether or not I would get my core back if returning it with this crack to Clearwater? They say on the site they accept it if it is cracked, they are not specific to location of the crack.

[stephansvolvo]

I received the replacement head. Pulled it out o the box and just installed it tonight. Fit perfect. Put mine in the box it come in and shipped it back. Perfect. I've got a few more days before connecting power and cranking it up so we will see what happens then.

How did it go Stephan?

I am about to pull the trigger on a head from them. Heard about them through this forum, but read some negative reviews online (incorrect valve install, loose guide, etc). I am thinking it is one of those things where people only write reviews when things go horribly wrong.

Also, I cracked the exhaust cam lip exactly like the user in a separate post, can anyone confirm whether or not I would get my core back if returning it with this crack to Clearwater? They say on the site they accept it if it is cracked, they are not specific to location of the crack.

It fit like a glove. I drove the swede 1500 miles from CO to the OR coast. No problems. I cracked my journals too and they dont care. All they want back is what they sent you. I would inspect the head when you pull it out and if there is any damage to it call them and send it back. The parts i sent back to FCP plus what it would have cost me I saved 570ish bucks.
I'd do it.

[stephansvolvo]

I received the replacement head. Pulled it out o the box and just installed it tonight. Fit perfect. Put mine in the box it come in and shipped it back. Perfect. I've got a few more days before connecting power and cranking it up so we will see what happens then.

How did it go Stephan?

I am about to pull the trigger on a head from them. Heard about them through this forum, but read some negative reviews online (incorrect valve install, loose guide, etc). I am thinking it is one of those things where people only write reviews when things go horribly wrong.

Also, I cracked the exhaust cam lip exactly like the user in a separate post, can anyone confirm whether or not I would get my core back if returning it with this crack to Clearwater? They say on the site they accept it if it is cracked, they are not specific to location of the crack.

Oh they don't hit you wit the core charge unless you miss the 30 day. It needs to be in their shop day 30. Dude was very clear about that when I called.

[craywm]

I am thinking of going with Clearwater. Had 2 burnt exhaust valves. Has anyone else been concerned about getting a R/R head and using your original cams? I'm overly cautious, but it would seam like your original head would be better to use since the cams are "used" to it already.

[everwiser]

I recently acquired a 98 V70 X/C wagon that had a "miss" as described by the previous owner. Long story short, it ended up being a burned exhaust valve in the #2 cylinder. After looking around online and Ebay, I decided against Clearwater "Odessa" cylinder heads and went with a "Mark Glew Co." with a NJ address. Another long story short, it turns out MG was the middleman and they ordered my reman head from Clearwater cylinder heads. The head looked good when it came in but it wasn't without a few issues. One of the intake manifold screws had been retapped to what appeared to be SAE 5/16" fine thread. Luckily I had a screw that matched this in my "junk" bucket. Second issue, three of the cam cover screw bores were stripped out; two completely and one that would thread in but never tighten down. One stripped hole was along the outside of the cover and the other two were adjacent to two separate cylinders. I ended up helicoiling these two bores because I had small oil leaks at these locations when they couldn't be torqued down. Lastly, there's a coolant passage on the distributor side of the head that should have a plug in it. Mine was wide open with no plug installed. I can take the blame for this one for not checking the old head closely enough but it would have been nice if there had been some documentation somewhere telling me it had to be done. I ended up losing about a half gallon of coolant on the ground before I realized it was pouring out somewhere. Once I pulled the plug out of the old head and put it in the new one, helicoiled the stripped screw bores to stop the small oil leaks, and matched up a non-metric screw to complete the intake installation, all seems well. I've put around 400 miles on it so far.

All in all I'm happy to have the car back on the road and firing on all cylinders but the issues I had to work through have left me disappointed with the head as supplied. They're a machine shop rebuilding aluminum cylinder heads and they don't take the time to verify and/or repair stripped holes with the proper sized helicoils? That's just shoddy and it makes me worry for the long term reliability of this head and whether or not any guarantee would be honored in the event of a problem. Another issue I had when getting the timing lined up is that I couldn't turn either cam by hand with the cam cover torqued down to the proper torque. Maybe this is normal with an align-bored head and cam cover but it makes me nervous that it was so tight. So far so good but only time will tell.

Knowing what I know now, I'd steer clear of Clearwater Cylinder Heads as well as make sure the company I'm ordering from is not using them either. The only "good" thing was no up front core charge. All else considered, I'd likely go with the company I found online out in Oregon. They were marginally higher in price, the core charge was up front, and return shipping was at your cost but they were better rated.

Just giving my .02. YMMV

[j-dawg]

Can I ask what company that was in Oregon?

[clifford06]

Greetings. Has anybody been charged a core fee from Clearwater ? How much if I may ask? Just curious to how much they value a core.
Also, what parts did those of you who have used them send in ( head only, head and cover, head cams and cover) ?

[everwiser]

Aluminum Head Rebuilders, Portland, OR. I'm going off memory here so don't take it to heart but their head price was a little less than what I paid but their core charge was around $250, up front and you paid for shipping both ways: to receive the head and to return your core. In addition, the amount of the core refund was not necessarily the full $250. The guy I talked to said everyone gets at least half of it back but it depended upon the condition of the head you send to them. I suppose cracked or unrepairable heads would fall into this category. He did say in "most" cases, people got the full core price.