Idler Arm

When I tried to lubricate the forward end of the idler arm, the grease would not go in unless I exerted a great amount of pressure on the hand gun. I pulled out the grease fitting and it worked fine by itself. It looked like grease is going into the joint because I can see some grease seeping out when I used the hand gun as stated above.

I don't have any personal history for this joint because I bought the 98 Blazer used a couple of months ago. The former owner had regular maintenance done by private shops and the dealer with the dealer doing the last four maintenances. I have all the papers and there was no mention of this problem. Could it be that they never greased this joint - really hard to get to. The Blazer only has 60000 miles on it.

Any thoughts on this problem?

OHHHHH yeah! That's the fitting that every shop seems to ignore. That poor little zerk fitting feels left out.

If it won't take grease, it's time to replace it. Sorry, it may not have been what you wanted to hear but it is fairly easy to change.

I thought that's what someone would say. Mannnnn, I thought I was almost through getting the Blazer ready for the mountains this winter. Thought I only had one more thing - the infamous windshield wiper pulse control module (which I'm trying to persuade Chevy to replace for me free of charge).

The idler arm replacement looks easy. Looks like I need two tools. A puller to separate the idler arm from the relay rod and an installer to put them back together again. Any recommendations or just go down to the standard Kragen store?

Whatever size the bolts are and a pickle fork to seperate the idler from the center link. Reassemble by mounting the idler to the frame and just put the ball joint in the center link and tighten up, no tool required. Don't forget the cotter pin at the center link.

Thanks. Aw well, back underneath the car again!

You don't have to replace the whole arm because the grease zerk is not accepting grease, just replace the zerk. Only replace the idler arm if it is loose.

Also, remove the lower skid plate to get better access to the fitting and in most case, you will have to hold the end of the grease gun on with pressure so the grease goes in properly.

I know on my 4x4 I had to but it still accepted grease.

In total, there should be 10-11 grease fitting on a 4x4 front end. Make sure you get them all.

Latest updates.

I had already checked the Zerk when I was having the problem and it was passing grease then. However, just to be sure, I installed a new zerk and still have the same problem - it is still very,very hard to pump grease into the joint. However, I know grease is going in because I could see grease seeping out of the seal. I also felt around the seal and it felt like there was grease inside.

The only way to get at that grease fitting is to remove the pseudo lower skid cover (plastic). That's the 11th fitting - can't see it and hard to get to. The dealer did the last four maintenances - you think they didn't know a fitting was there? This is a problem only with a 4X4. Before this car I had a 2000 2WD Blazer - no lower cover so you could see the fitting.

I had my partner rock the steering wheel back and forth (engine off) while I was under the car. I also had her turn the steering wheel from end to end (engine on). There were no noises and no vertical movements except at the intersection between the relay arm and the idler arm. However, the movement was no more than 3/32".

Unfortunately, I couldn't check for vertical lash of the idler arm using a spring scale because the front suspension crossmember was in the way. However, I grabbed the relay rod near the idler arm and tried to force it to move. With moderate force, I could get the idler arm to move vertically but it wasn't much. However, with greater force, I could feel and hear something hitting - I think at the joint where the grease is hard to go into.

Couple more things. I had rotated the tires. When I do that, I always check the tires for unusual wear - there was none. And while driving, the steering is fine - no looseness and no wandering.

At this point, I'm thinking of not replacing the idler arm yet but to watch tire wear carefully and grease that particular fitting more often than the others. When greasing, I'll probable check for looseness.

Any thoughts?

The idler arm normally takes some effort to get the grease in there. Mine does for sure.

You are fine and no replacement is necessary.