Hi, Got the idler arm assembly taken apart. The bushing is very solid, no cracking, bulging or movement at all. I am doing this to try and fix a groaning sound that appears ONLY when steering, not when going over bumps. The inside of the bushing does look a little dirty/slight rust but could be cleaned up easily. It does appear to be difficult to remove without at least some kind of slide hammer with-a-hook type puller, which I do not have and can't get today. Cam I just clean the inside of the bushing, the bolt, the washers and such, liberally spray some WD40 and maybe get away with this for now?
I did try turnig the steering wheel and all is quiet with the idler are disconnected so I strongly suspect this is my noise. I don't want to get crazy with trying to remove this thing as withoutthe right tools I'm sure it'll take me all day. The Idler are repair kit I bought doesnt have the big washer that is on top of the "cup" at the top of the assembly. Is that big washer needed? I'm not confusing this washer with the one at the bottom.
Would a light coating of grease hurt? Thanks much.

Never mind. The bushings came out easily so I did the whole job. Very easy and front-end is quiet now. Don't ever bother with what I said in the beginning, grease, WD40 etc, it doesn't work. Replace the whole thing.
Screwdriver and slight tapping too out the top bush, long style 22MM socket and tapping withthe side of a small sledge took out the bottom. Easy.

An Estwing or similar claw hammer with a nearly straight claw will also work to hook the lower bushing and pull it out, then you can use a drift to get the top one out.

Any dirt or corrosion in there will cause groaning or "oversteer" where the linkage moves too far from being too stiff, then requires a pull on the wheel to get it back to center.

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

I just bought a kit and plan to do my idler arm soon. What should be used for lubrication? The Haynes manual says to lubricate the bushings with oil (I assume to facilitate installation) but makes no mention of lubricating the bolt.

I didn't put anything on my bushings and they went in OK. The top bushing I wiggled a little to get it started, put in the old bolt and used some of the old bushing with a big washer on the bottom with the old nut and pulled it home. Did essentially the same with the bottom bushing. I used a little grease between the new top cap and the smaller washer that was on top of it just to hold the washer in place. I had used an impact wrench to take everything apart but put it all together using arm power. The entire job would take 45 mins the next time around. Took me about 2 hours today but I'm sorta slow when fooling with the car anyway. There's no need to lube the bolt, it's not doing the work and isn't what makes the noises. The bushing does everything. Hold the rubber part and turn the metal tube and you'll see what I mean. Buy a can of GOOP, it's a messy job :-)

Thanks for the reply. I am sure that it will make sense once I get a closer look.