If there is air in the fluid,it would make a whining sound.

 

A worn cv axle ?

 

First, have someone, in another car, observe your car on the highway.

Second, if everything seems tight, pull on front tires in 12 and 6, and 3 and 9 positions, than rotate the front tires to the back. A slipped internal tire belt can cause pulling.

 

I'm gonna take it to a shop tomorrow, have them check it out and do alignment. I rotated the tires a few months ago but only started doing it maybe a week ago or so. It doesn't always pull, just sometimes does when you let off, after accelerating from a dead stop. Other than that, the steering wheel doesn't vibrate and it seems to track fairly straight, but it probably needs the alignment adjusted somewhat.

When I had the ball joints changed I had them inspect the rest of the suspension, they said it looked fine and alignment felt good enough they didn't feel the need to adjust it, and I figured they wouldn't lie about that, they'd try to make more money on me if they could. Gonna take it to another reputable shop and see what they say.

Would a slipped tire belt cause the wheel balance to be off? There's no vibration in the steering, just that occasional left pull for a half second.

 

Does it jerk under moderate to high throttle? Most ATs shift rough under light load and especially when backing off on the throttle. The wheel jerk may be a result of this. I don't think this is a PS problem.

Loose radial belts will cause a very slight wobble at low speed and a slight vibration at cruise speed - of course this varies with the amount the belt is loose/broken/twisted.

If you have a loose belt it can't be aligned - so you will find out soon enough.

As Marv says, rotate the tires to see if it goes away.

 

It doesn't do with with every shift, seems to do it on the 2-3 shift. It pulls to the left hard briefly, but right after the shift, not during.

I guess I'll try the tire rotation. If that's the cause, I'll be relieved but pissed because the tires are still at 75% or so and I don't want to replace them yet. I may do a front side-to-side rotation, see if it's a front tire and if doing that will make it pull the other way. If that's the case, I'll only need another pair, or just one if I can figure out which it is. Not sure how to tell which is bad, I would assume it's the left front since it pulls left, but maybe not.

The pulling only seems to happen letting off the throttle, so it seems like drivetrain issue to me, but I don't know, I'm nowhere near a mechanic.

 

I swapped the front tires this morning, still pulls. I'm gonna have to take it to a shop, have them inspect the axles and do an alignment, see if that helps.

 

Turned out the left side control arm was loose, the bolt holes were too large, like they were wallered out. Sent that side back for a new one, drives stable. Gotta take it to be aligned on tuesday, then it ought to ride pretty good.

 

The shop replaced the control arm first ? They did not installed the right one ?

 

It was the correct one but they think it was defective, so they sent it back under warranty, and replaced it free of charge. Need to take it to get it aligned and it'll be good to go.

 

I'm pretty anxious to see if this solves your problem, which I think it will

 

It already has. It was replaced and doesn't pull anymore. The alignment isn't off by much, I just want it done so it doesn't wear the tires uneven.