Attention: TDR Forum Junkies If you've already fixed your KDP, you can skip this post. If you haven't yet, but intend to do so with the TST kit, you may find the lessons I just learned helpful. Probably all of the tips I give below have been discussed in previous threads, but its always helpful to get these things back up to the top every once in a while for the benefit of the new guys.
The TST dowel pin fix kit is very high quality, and the instructions are excellent. If I had it to do over again I would... makes a little more sense to me than using the KDP jig, since you really want to also check the torque on the gear housing bolts and get some LocTite on 'em while your're fixing the KDP. Mine were pretty loose... only a little more than finger-tight. BTW, my dowel pin was out about 1/8"... probably could have gone another 100K without falling out, but it would have fallen out one day. It brings great peace of mind to your driving, knowing there's no longer a time-bomb waiting to go off in your engine.
Some tips to make the job easier:
1. The TST instructions don't mention anything about removing the top radiator hose (just aft of the fan cowl). Do yourself a huge favor and take it off FIRST. It is certainly possible to do the job without removing that hose, but it is 100x easier with it out of the way. You'll lose no more than a quart of coolant, which is cheaper than the extra hour you'd spend trying to maneuver the fan out around that hose.
2. While you're at it, remove both batteries. You don't need to, but the extra room is nice.
3. BEFORE you start this job, go to a bad hardware store and buy the cheapest, crappiest 10 mm open end wrench you can find. Good wrenches are just a little too thick to get to one of the fan mount bolts, which is very difficult to reach. Cheap wrenches are thinner (I found a bad one in my 'throw-away' tool box that is 3/16" thick, which is just right). My good wrench is about 7/32" thick, which is too big.
4. I'm embarrassed to admit that one of the most time-consuming jobs for me was removing the coolant overflow tank. The directions say "Remove the coolant overflow tank by inserting a large flat screwdriver between the tank and the fan shroud. " A little more detailed explanation would have helped. What you're trying to do is to pry a small round bulge in the tank wall out of a mating hole in the fan shroud. Once you do that, you lift straight up on the tank and out she comes. You can't see what you're doing there, so if you want to, look at the window washer fluid tank first... there you'll see the a similar bulge and mating hole. OK, so suddenly you're perfectly clear on what you're doing. If you don't pry that bulge out of its seat first, no force on earth can remove the tank. Sheesh.
5. Buy a new serpentine belt before you start the job. You're going to take the old one off anyway, so why not replace it with new? Store the old one in your on-board emergency kit; it might come in handy some day.
6. Unless you're real familiar with your engine and a pretty big guy, this is definitely a two-man job. I'm a pretty small guy; no way I could have done this alone. Fortunately I had my 23-year-old 6' 8" son, with monster muscles, over for the holidays and paid him to help me.
7. To check all five of the internal gear case bolts, you're going to need some way to bar the engine over while the serpentine belt is off (i. e. , you won't be able to use a socket wrench on the alternator nut). If you have the engine-barring tool, great. If you don't, just have your monster son lay on his back under the front of the engine, and turn the vibration damper by hand.
8. Similarly, you're going to need some way to prevent the vibration damper from turning while you're loosening its bolts, and again when you're retorqueing them. Again, having your monster son grab the damper in both hands and hold it still is very helpful.
9. Step 23 of the directions has you reinstall the oil fill tube AFTER reinstalling the fan and cowl. Nonononono, that dog won't hunt. Reinstall the fill tube BEFORE reinstalling the fan and cowl.
So now I've joined the chorus of holier-than-thou TDR guys who insist that the first thing you MUST do is fix your KDP. They're right; why drive around with a time-bomb in your engine? You can do it, so get off yer duff and get that puppy fixed. Have fun, and long live rock-n-roll.
The TST dowel pin fix kit is very high quality, and the instructions are excellent. If I had it to do over again I would... makes a little more sense to me than using the KDP jig, since you really want to also check the torque on the gear housing bolts and get some LocTite on 'em while your're fixing the KDP. Mine were pretty loose... only a little more than finger-tight. BTW, my dowel pin was out about 1/8"... probably could have gone another 100K without falling out, but it would have fallen out one day. It brings great peace of mind to your driving, knowing there's no longer a time-bomb waiting to go off in your engine.
Some tips to make the job easier:
1. The TST instructions don't mention anything about removing the top radiator hose (just aft of the fan cowl). Do yourself a huge favor and take it off FIRST. It is certainly possible to do the job without removing that hose, but it is 100x easier with it out of the way. You'll lose no more than a quart of coolant, which is cheaper than the extra hour you'd spend trying to maneuver the fan out around that hose.
2. While you're at it, remove both batteries. You don't need to, but the extra room is nice.
3. BEFORE you start this job, go to a bad hardware store and buy the cheapest, crappiest 10 mm open end wrench you can find. Good wrenches are just a little too thick to get to one of the fan mount bolts, which is very difficult to reach. Cheap wrenches are thinner (I found a bad one in my 'throw-away' tool box that is 3/16" thick, which is just right). My good wrench is about 7/32" thick, which is too big.
4. I'm embarrassed to admit that one of the most time-consuming jobs for me was removing the coolant overflow tank. The directions say "Remove the coolant overflow tank by inserting a large flat screwdriver between the tank and the fan shroud. " A little more detailed explanation would have helped. What you're trying to do is to pry a small round bulge in the tank wall out of a mating hole in the fan shroud. Once you do that, you lift straight up on the tank and out she comes. You can't see what you're doing there, so if you want to, look at the window washer fluid tank first... there you'll see the a similar bulge and mating hole. OK, so suddenly you're perfectly clear on what you're doing. If you don't pry that bulge out of its seat first, no force on earth can remove the tank. Sheesh.
5. Buy a new serpentine belt before you start the job. You're going to take the old one off anyway, so why not replace it with new? Store the old one in your on-board emergency kit; it might come in handy some day.
6. Unless you're real familiar with your engine and a pretty big guy, this is definitely a two-man job. I'm a pretty small guy; no way I could have done this alone. Fortunately I had my 23-year-old 6' 8" son, with monster muscles, over for the holidays and paid him to help me.
7. To check all five of the internal gear case bolts, you're going to need some way to bar the engine over while the serpentine belt is off (i. e. , you won't be able to use a socket wrench on the alternator nut). If you have the engine-barring tool, great. If you don't, just have your monster son lay on his back under the front of the engine, and turn the vibration damper by hand.
8. Similarly, you're going to need some way to prevent the vibration damper from turning while you're loosening its bolts, and again when you're retorqueing them. Again, having your monster son grab the damper in both hands and hold it still is very helpful.
9. Step 23 of the directions has you reinstall the oil fill tube AFTER reinstalling the fan and cowl. Nonononono, that dog won't hunt. Reinstall the fill tube BEFORE reinstalling the fan and cowl.
So now I've joined the chorus of holier-than-thou TDR guys who insist that the first thing you MUST do is fix your KDP. They're right; why drive around with a time-bomb in your engine? You can do it, so get off yer duff and get that puppy fixed. Have fun, and long live rock-n-roll.
), cleaning a decade's worth of gunk off the gear box cover, waiting for the little woman to get back from NAPA with a new serpentine, and waaay too long to get the coolant bottle off, a total of ten hours. If you are efficient, determined, confident, and a non-smoker, its probably a three-hour job. Call it five hours for the average joe. 
