I replace the idle arm with a new moog « revised » one. However once installed it made the steering too, stiff. I have put in greese to see if that would loosen it up but still not working. Anyone else have had this trouble? Or are they usually this tight.

I have had good luck with moog before so i am kind of surprised with this result.

 

Give it time, they are stiff to begin with. Make sure you got the grease I there good too.

 

When I installed mine I noticed when I took it out of the box it was almost too stiff to rotate by hand.. had to put some weight on it to move it.

I did not notice stiff steering however.

You could maybe try slightly backing off the preload? There is info in the FSM for this. The top nut gets tightened a certain amount I think.

Or just drive it a but more it may work in.

 

Do NOT adjust the Moog replacement idler arm,install,grease,drive car. This part will last the life of the car and will take a couple hundred miles to break in.

Any info in FSM pertains to the original arm that came on the car,not the Moog version.

Grease periodically as the heat from the proximity of exhaust(more so with header) cooks the grease. It can be purged by pumping in fresh grease.

 

I agree completely with the above statement. The Moog brand idler arm is inherently stiff for some time and it will loosen up. I would grease it once per year to ensure excellent operation. These are heavy duty units and I know that I have personally experienced sticky steering after installing one. I have never had the sticky or stiff steering last more than a couple hundred miles however.

 

I have been running on this idle arm for over 100 miles

it is still pretty stiff to rotate it and the small joint (the part that connects to the inner tie rod end) won’t move at ALL, even with a hammer. That can’t be normal right? That has to be binding the steering some how. I did try greasing it but still no luck.

It is to to the point where if I turn, the car will remain in that turn. It is no fun to drive like this... I was hoping there was some way of taking off the pressure

Should I still wait it out or buy a new one?

 

1st,no good comes from hitting this or any other suspension part with a hammer UNLESS it's a part you're trying to remove that will be discarded.

The "small joint" rotates in one axis,it does not articulate like a ball joint.

How much grease did you pump in to zerk fittings,should be enough that a fair size blob is expunged,you will see the boot swell up. Excess grease can be wiped away.

If there was something wrong with the idler you couldn't turn the car AT ALL. I have installed lots of these,40+ over the years and never had a defective one. The part is actually overbuilt for such a light car and as mentioned previously,the 1st gen chassis.will never wear it out.
It does take a minimum of 200 miles to begin to break in and your complaint of steering wheel not returning to center after a turn is normal during break in. It WILL improve as miles accrue.

Of course you can reinstall your oe idler arm...and with new bushings to bring car back to original"new" condition,but most here would agree that is a step backwards. Persevere and put more miles on it and reap the rewards of more responsive steering.

 

I greased mine after being on there a over a year and the old grease came out cakey and black. I use red grease so I can see when its expunged the old dark grease.

Tip: get a pneumatic grease gun, makes it so much easier.