1.8T Valve Lifter Tools

[Kevin C]

1.8T Valve lash adjuster tool slam tool. If any of you have ever taken your lash adjusters apart you may want to try this. Normally you remove the lash adjuster by slamming the bucket on a bench. While that works quite well, it leaves dings in the bench and seems a bit rough on the cam buckets. I came up with a 3D printed holder you can use to slam then on the bench with. I made one for the intake and the exhaust. I just did a full set using the "Slam Tool" and it worked really well.

I also designed a tray to organize the parts so you can put them back in the same location that they came from.

There is also a smaller shipping tray if you want a better way to send a set out.

Exhaust Tool: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7059145
Intake Tool: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7059144
Organizing Tray: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7059192
Shipping Tray: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7059199

Have fun!

[EuroxS4]

I mean most professionals just use a magnet.

[Kevin C]

I mean most professionals just use a magnet.

For what? If you mean the valve lash adjusters its not going to happen, they are retained with a small snap ring.

[Kevin C]

Slam tool:



Lifter tray with 1-4 order:

This can help keep your parts organized and clean when you send your head out, as you know, you should try and keep the cam buckets in their original locations. There is also a file to print a cover.



Example of how to take lifters apart:

This is a pretty common method, the retainer ring is not just an Audi thing.



Step by step of the same method for a Z32 motor (1990-1996 Nissan 300ZX): https://conceptzperformance.com/wiki/index.php/Lifter


Picture of the lash adjuster from a new 1.8T cam bucket where you can see the snap ring. The snap ring holds the VLA in quite well. I tried several methods to remove it before using the slam method, they don't come out very easily.

Screenshot 2025-06-08 090656.jpg

[ye1low]

Nice concept Kevin. My 1995 Mazda Millenia (KLDE motor) had the exact same hydraulic lash adjusters. Back then I used needle nose pliers wrapped with electrical tape to pull them apart. Man do they make a rattle if you don't prefill them on startup.

[Kevin C]

Nice concept Kevin. My 1995 Mazda Millenia (KLDE motor) had the exact same hydraulic lash adjusters. Back then I used needle nose pliers wrapped with electrical tape to pull them apart. Man do they make a rattle if you don't prefill them on startup.

Thanks! I did try a set of needle nose pliers with hooked ends to grab the VLA, I did not have any luck getting mine apart that way. That got me to try the slam method. I found out a couple of things: What you slam against matters, a pine or cedar board is not going to get you anywhere, the oak board worked pretty well. That was what got me to come up with the slam block. I could use a hard surface and not risk damaging parts, it was also easier on my hands and easy to get a nice hard flat hit.

[ye1low]

When I rebuilt my Mazda motor I never heard of the "slam" method nor do I think 3D printers were even invented. Enders and Prusa probably weren't even a concept in the mid 90's. Crazy how technology has evolved.
I did find that after a good cleaning and soak in carb cleaner it was imperative to pre-fill with a good quality synthetic oil and well as clock them in the head with the oil passage. Those guys never really get any oil flow once they are installed and lining up the tiny oil fill hole with the port in the head really helps them build pressure quick. Thinking back now, I remember rebuilding them in a tub of oil and then using my AC vac pump to pull out whatever air was trapped in there. I was paranoid that they would end being pneumatic pistons rather than hydraulic ones since that check valve doesn't allow any flow out of them. I eventually stopped rebuilding them and just replaced them with new since they eventually get score marks and have trouble holding pressure long term.

[Kevin C]

When I rebuilt my Mazda motor I never heard of the "slam" method nor do I think 3D printers were even invented. Enders and Prusa probably weren't even a concept in the mid 90's. Crazy how technology has evolved.
I did find that after a good cleaning and soak in carb cleaner it was imperative to pre-fill with a good quality synthetic oil and well as clock them in the head with the oil passage. Those guys never really get any oil flow once they are installed and lining up the tiny oil fill hole with the port in the head really helps them build pressure quick. Thinking back now, I remember rebuilding them in a tub of oil and then using my AC vac pump to pull out whatever air was trapped in there. I was paranoid that they would end being pneumatic pistons rather than hydraulic ones since that check valve doesn't allow any flow out of them. I eventually stopped rebuilding them and just replaced them with new since they eventually get score marks and have trouble holding pressure long term.

Fun stuff, its amazing how things have changed. The ones I took aparts are actually new. This is an experiment, and my first try at having parts DLC coated and they needed to be dissemble before they can be coated. DLC coatings can reduce valve train friction by up to 66%, even a 45% reduction is signifigant. About 20 percent of an engines friction losses are from the valvetrain. Audi uses DLC coatings on the wrist pins for the same reason. As a wag, its worth about .2 MPG and gets you a couple of HP.

https://www.calicocoatings.com/coatings/dlc-coatings/

https://www.sae.org/publications/tec.../2018-36-0027/

In valvetrains provided with mechanical bucket tappets, very applied due to its constructive simplicity, it is estimated that about 85% of the total torque losses are generated by interactions between the cam and the tappet. In order to minimize these losses by friction, coatings like diamond like carbon (DLC) can be applied on the normal production tappets. The fuel consumption of a light passenger vehicle, powered with an I3 engine, for example, with tappets coated with DLC, differs from the fuel consumption of the same vehicle equipped with normal production tappets. The percentage difference between these consumptions is determined by the use of enterprise software for the simulation of consumption cycles, resulting in a reduction of about 0.5%

[ye1low]

Please take some after pictures of them when you get them back. Are you coating the entire bucket or just the top and cam lobe? I wonder about the tolerance between the head ID and the bucket OD? What is their claimed mircon thickness? Calico has been around for ages! I remember the talk about crank bearings being coated by them and it being the next best thing. I've used these guys in the past when I built my Honda 2.0 Stroker motor.
https://techlinecoatings.com/

[Kevin C]

Please take some after pictures of them when you get them back. Are you coating the entire bucket or just the top and cam lobe? I wonder about the tolerance between the head ID and the bucket OD? What is their claimed micron thickness? Calico has been around for ages! I remember the talk about crank bearings being coated by them and it being the next best thing. I've used these guys in the past when I built my Honda 2.0 Stroker motor.
https://techlinecoatings.com/

I will get some photos up once I get them. The top and the sides are being coated, the underside where the VLA lives gets masked. The cams themselves are not getting any kind of coating. I did spring for a fresh set, since one of the lobes on the my used exhaust cams was showing a small amount of pitting. I was able to source a pair of OEM eq KOLBENSCHMIDT cams for a reasonable price. The coating is supposed to be between 1 and 5 microns. They adjust the coating based on the application. I should have all the parts in about 2 weeks.